Kingdom Hearts: The Novelization
by Vegeta the Prince
Summary: The Final Update! So here it is, the end. Sora, Donald, and Goofy start down a new path leaving their journey behind. But another journey may not be far off...
1. Introduction

Introduction  
Dive Into the Heart  
  
"Thinking of you, wherever you are.  
We pray for our sorrows to end,  
And hope that our hearts will blend.  
Now I will step forward to realize this wish.  
And who knows:  
Starting a new journey may not be so hard  
Or maybe it has already begun.  
There are many worlds,  
But they share the same sky-  
One sky, one destiny."- One Sky, One Destiny-Kingdom Hearts, 2002  
  
The sound of battle rang out among Destiny Islands. Two teens crossed wooden swords to try and best each other. The first was a young man around 15. He had shoulder-length silver hair and aqua eyes. He had a sleeveless yellow shirt and baggy blue pants. His black-gloved hand held his wooden sword and his feet were covered with slightly over sized black shoes.  
  
The second was around 14. His brown hair spiked out in many different directions and he had blue eyes. He had a red shirt and pants that were held up by a blue belt with a thin black and white jacket. He had white, fingerless gloves and yellow shoes that were also oversized. A small crown charm hung off a silver chain around his neck.  
  
They had one spectator, a girl that was also 14. She had reddish-brown hair that came to her neck and she also had blue eyes. She had a white tank top and a short purple skirt. She wore purple sandals on her feet.  
  
"I got you now Sora!" the silver haired boy said. Sora smiled and attacked but his attack was deflected.  
  
"Only in your dreams Riku!" he shot back. Riku slammed his sword into Sora's and they struggled against each other. Sora knew Riku was physically stronger then him so he quickly broke away and prepared for another strike. Sora lunged forward toward Riku's midsection but Riku jumped into the air and flipped as Sora went by. Riku hit Sora in the back of the head hard enough for the younger boy to be knocked down.  
  
"The winner is Riku!" the girl shouted. Riku smiled as he raised his hands.  
  
"As usual," Riku said.  
  
"That's nice. Can I get some help?" Sora asked and the girl helped him up. "Thanks Kairi."  
  
"No problem," Kairi laughed.  
  
"Hey, we better be going," Riku called back to them. Sora and Kairi looked to see the sun about to set. They nodded and each got in a different boat as they rowed back to their separate home islands.

Falling. Falling. That was all that was happening to Sora. All around him was pitch black and he felt the sensation of falling. The sensation was over when he smacked in the surface of water. He broke the surface of the water to see that he was a little ways away from their island. He turned and saw Riku standing waste deep in the water. Riku stretched his hand out and Sora tried to grab it. Just before he reached him a wave came and hit them both. As Sora once again broke the water he heard a familiar voice calling his name.  
  
"Sora!" Sora turned toward the voice and saw Kairi standing on the beach but Riku was gone. He walked to her but he took notice of the sudden terror in her eyes. He turned to see what she was looking at and went wide-eyed at what he saw. It was himself, and he was falling.  
  
He suddenly felt a strong pull from beneath him and he was pulled under the water. Once again he was falling. He saw below a shining spot in the darkness. It was a large circular platform that he was heading for. His feet lightly touched the ground and he started to look around.  
  
"So much to do so little time," Came a disembodied voice from what appeared to be all around him. Then three pedestals rose around him. One contained a sword, one a shield, and the last a staff. They each in some way had the same symbol, two small circles connected to the top of a bigger circle. "What form will you choose?" Sora walked up to the sword and grabbed it.  
  
"Wait till Riku sees this! He'll flip!" Sora said, swinging it around.  
  
"Power, a sword of terrible destruction. Is this the form you choose?" asked the voice. Sora pointed his head toward the sky.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Very well. What will you give up in return?" Sora walked to the shield and got ready to toss it away. "Defense, the power to aid ones friends. Is this the form you will give up in return?"  
  
"Yes," Sora said once more and the shield disappeared. Then all three pedestals disappeared and a small creature rose from the ground. It came up to Sora's knees in height and very humanoid in shape. It had short legs and small arms with claws on the end of them. Two antennas stuck out from its round head and it had glowing yellow eyes. It was completely black.  
  
"There will be times you have to fight," came the voice. The creature Sora could only describe as a Shadow attacked him. Its claws missed as Sora dodged and twirled around, slicing the exposed back of the Shadow and it disappeared in black smoke.  
  
"Yeah!" Sora shouted in victory but it was cut short as the platform beneath him broke and he again was falling. He landed on a different platform and in the middle was a transparent and oriental looking door. He went to the door but there was a flash of light that blinded his vision. When he could see again he saw that he was at the very top of his island. Surrounding him were his other three friends Tidus, Wakka, and Selphie.  
  
"The door will not open yet," said the voice. Sora walked up to Tidus but before he could say anything Tidus spoke.  
  
"What are you afraid of?" he asked. Sora raised an eyebrow at his question.  
  
"Getting old," he said. Tidus just smiled and said nothing more. He then walked over toward Wakka.  
  
"What do you want out of life?" Wakka asked.  
  
"To see rare sights," Sora told him. Wakka nodded his head and said nothing more. He then walked over to Selphie.  
  
"What's most important to you?" she asked.  
  
"That's easy! Friendship!" Sora said. Then the voice broke in.  
  
"Your journey begins at dawn. As long as the sun is shining you will be okay. Is this okay with you?"  
  
"Sounds good," Sora said. The familiar light flashed and he was on another platform. A Shadow raised in front of him, then two more behind him. Soon, the little creatures surrounded him but he wouldn't quit. One jumped at him with claws extended but Sora moved to the left and sliced through it. He felt a sharp pain in his left arm and saw that a Shadow had scratched him. He dropped low and did a complete 360 spin that cut most of them down. He blocked a claw swipe and continued to push until he cut through the Shadow. The last jumped at him but he stuck his sword out and the blade plunged through it.  
  
"Congratulations," The voice said as stairs suddenly appeared to the next platform. He walked up them slowly as blood dripped from his arm. When he reached the next platform he walked into a shaft of light.  
  
"What the..." Sora held his arm in front of his eyes to block the light. He didn't notice his Shadow starting to rise from the ground.  
  
"The closer you get to the light, the larger your shadow will become," the voice said. Sora turned in shock at his own shadow staring back at him. Then it changed. It grew almost eight stories tall and the body became hugely muscular. Out of the top of his head came some sort of stringy hair that covered his entire face except for the glowing yellow eyes. Its fingers became pointed at the end and there was a large hole in his chest in the shape of an elongated heart.  
  
"Oh no!" Sora yelled and started to run. That thing would crush him! He ran to the stairs only to nearly fall from the platform. The stairs were gone!  
  
"But do not fear Darkside," the voice said. So this monster was called Darkside. Sora realized he had two choices. He could fight and die or give up and die. He planned to go out with a bang. He took a defensive position as Darkside lifted his hands in front of him. He created a large ball of light even bigger than Sora! A smaller ball of light fired from that one and struck Sora.  
  
The pain was amazing as Sora was thrown back and slammed into the platform so hard he bounced. He slowly got up and tears started coming to his eyes. No way he could win! Another ball of light flew at him but Sora dodged it quickly. His relief was cut short as he was hit by another ball of light. This time he almost bounced off the platform but managed to stop himself. Sora got up even slower and was glad to see the ball finally gone. Darkside went to slam his hand on the ground to flatten Sora but he dodged and jumped onto the back of his hand. Darkside looked around and saw nothing. He brought his hand up to scratch his head.  
  
_'Big, strong, and stupid!'_ Sora thought gladly as he jumped from Darkside's hand onto his neck. Darkside let out a roar as he finally realized where Sora was.  
  
"Take this!" Sora shouted and jammed the sword into the exposed flesh of Darkside's neck until only the hilt could be seen. A howl of pain followed as Sora was thrown to the platform. A dark portal appeared under him as he was pulled under.  
  
"Don't forget," Said the voice, "You are the one who will open the door." 


	2. Destiny Islands

Chapter 1  
Destiny Islands  
  
Sora's eyes shot open only to be greeted by the face of Kairi. He let out a yell of surprise and sat up quickly. He found he was on the beach.  
  
"Sora, you lazy bum. I knew I'd find you snoozing down here," she said.  
  
"Snoozing? No! This huge black...thing swallowed me up!" he told her. She smacked him across the head and he winced slightly.  
  
"Sounds like you've been dreaming again," she said, sitting down next to him. He shook his head again.  
  
"It wasn't a dream! Or was it? I don't know," he said letting his shoulders slump in defeat. It was then Kairi decided to change the subject.  
  
"I can't wait until the raft is finished. Then we can go see other worlds!"  
  
"Maybe we'll even find your world Kairi. You sure you can't remember anything about it?" Sora asked. Kairi had just shown up on Destiny Islands one day.  
  
"I told you before. All I remember is showing up at the Mayor's house that day. That day when you and Riku were the first to come see me. That's another reason I can't wait to finish the raft. I might be able to get home."  
  
"Hey! Aren't you guys forgetting about me?" Riku's voice cut in. He held a log under one arm. "I guess I'm the only one working on the raft." He tossed the log at an unsuspecting Sora and he was knocked over.  
  
"Hey!" he said lifting it off him.  
  
"And you!" Riku pointed at Kairi. "You're just as lazy as he is."  
  
"So you noticed," Kairi laughed. "So let's get to the raft. Come on. I'll race you." She received a "What" and a "Are you kidding me" in response.  
  
"Ready go!" she said. Sora stared at Riku and he stared back. They both suddenly jumped up and made a mad dash to the raft.

Later that night the three were on a smaller island just of the coast of the main one and connected by a small bridge. There was a tree that had been bent in one of Sora and Riku's fights. Sora and Kairi sat on the tree while Riku leaned on the base.  
  
"So Kairi's home is out there somewhere right?" Sora asked Riku.  
  
"Beats me, but we won't know until we try," Riku stared off into the ocean as the sun sank behind the water.  
  
"If we do get to other worlds, what will you do there?" Kairi asked.  
  
"I don't know. I've been wondering though. If there are other worlds out there, then why did we end up on this one? We could just have easily ended up on any other world. Don't you think?"  
  
"I don't know," Sora said as he lay down on the tree.  
  
"You've been thinking a lot about this haven't you?" Kairi asked Riku.  
  
"Thanks to you. If you hadn't come I never would have thought about leaving here. Kairi, thanks," he said.  
  
"You're welcome. We should be getting home," she jumped down. "Bye guys." She said running off. Sora started to follow.  
  
"Hey Sora!" Riku's voice interrupted his run as he turned to look. A star shaped fruit suddenly landed in his hands.  
  
"A Paupu Fruit?" Sora asked.  
  
"Legend says that if two people share one, their destinies become intertwined," Riku started to walk past him.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Come one. I know you want to try it."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Sora asked. Riku only laughed and patted him on the back as he passed him. Sora stared at the fruit and shrugged. He tossed it into the water and ran to catch up. Far away, on a distant world, Court Wizard Donald Duck walked down a hallway in the Castle of Mouse. He soon got to a huge set of doors that had to be ten stories tall. He found a certain spot and pushed until a smaller door, his size, opened up. He walked into the throne room.  
  
"Good morning Your Majesty," he said before he noticed the throne was empty. "Huh?" He walked up to the throne and the King's dog, Pluto, walked out with a letter in his mouth. Donald took it and scanned it quickly. He then ran, screaming, from the throne room.  
  
Donald found who he was looking for, Chief of the Royal Knights Goofy, sleeping peacefully in the courtyard.  
  
"Wake up Goofy!" he said, shaking him a little. He then began to shake harder. "Wake up!" He shouted louder. He gave up shaking and held his hand above Goofy. Lightning jumped from his fingers onto Goofy's sleeping form. Goofy let out a yell and leaped a few feet in the air. Despite the wake up call he looked at Donald lazily.  
  
"Good morning Donald," Goofy yawned.  
  
"We have an emergency! Now, you can't tell anyone!"  
  
"Queen Minnie?"  
  
"No! Not even the queen!"  
  
"Daisy?"  
  
"No one!"  
  
"Good morning ladies!" Goofy waved behind Donald.  
  
"What?" Donald turned slowly to see the Queen and his girlfriend. He laughed nervously before slumping his shoulders.  
  
"Highwind!" Riku shouted and Sora.  
  
"Excalibur!" Sora shouted back. They had been arguing over this for some time now, the name of the raft.  
  
"Are you two at it again?" Kairi asked, walking up to them. "I guess this calls for the usual. First one to touch the tree and get back wins." They had grown accustomed to both fighting and racing to decide what happens.  
  
"If I win, I'm captain," Sora started, "And if you win..."  
  
"I get to share the Paupu with Kairi," Riku finished.  
  
"What?" Sora asked, taken back slightly.  
  
"Deal? The winner gets to share the Paupu with Kairi."  
  
"Hey wait a minute," Sora didn't get to say anything though.  
  
"Go!" Kairi shouted and the two were off. They ran on the broken bridge and jumped over the missing parts. They then hit the part where they split. Riku started climbing up the ladder that would take him to a pulley that got him to the top of the trees. Sora jumped off a small cliff only three feet high and ran through the shallow ocean water. Sora got to the large hill and climbed to the tree at the top the same time as Riku.  
  
"Here we go!" Riku shouted as they both made a mad sprint back to Kairi. When they got to the broken bridge they picked up speed. Sora went for one more desperate jump and got to Kairi just before Riku.  
  
"Coconuts, fish, water..." Sora looked at the things in his bag. They were collecting provisions for the trip seeing as no one knew how long they would be on the raft. He looked at the next item on the list. Mushrooms. He walked over to a certain spot on the island known only as, The Secret Place. It was a well-hidden cave covered by vines and over grown plants.  
  
Inside there were all sorts of drawings on the walls that the kids of Destiny Islands had drawn. He went over to a certain drawing. One was of him and the other of Kairi. When they were younger they decided to draw each other. Her drawing of him was great but his was, well, a little less than perfect. He sat down on the ground and took a sharp rock. When he was finished he moved back to admirer his work. He had drawn his arm giving the drawing of Kairi a Paupu.  
  
He grabbed the mushrooms and turned to leave but behind him was a man in a long cloak and a hood that shadowed his face.  
  
"Who are you?" Sora asked.  
  
"I've come to see the door to this world," the figure said, clearly a man. Sora turned to the door the man stood next to. It had just appeared one day but they had no way of opening it.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Sora turned his gaze back to the man.  
  
"This world had been connected. Tied to the darkness. Soon to be completely eclipsed," the man moved slightly.  
  
"Where did you come from?"  
  
"You do not yet know what lies beyond the door."  
  
"So you're from another world. Well you'll see! I'm going to go learn what's out there!" Sora told him confidently.  
  
"A meaningless effort," the man laughed a little. "One who knows nothing can understand nothing." Sora turned to the door for second. When he turned back to the man he had completely vanished. "Dear Donald,  
  
I'm sorry to leave without notice but trouble's brewin! Stars have begun to turn out one by one. I need a favor from you. I need you to find the Keybearer who holds the 'key' to our survival and stick with him. Go to Traverse Town and find Leon. He'll help you. Thanks pal.  
  
P.S. Apologize to Minnie for me."  
  
"What could this mean?" Daisy asked after Donald had read the letter.  
  
"It means we'll just have to trust the king," Minnie said. "Donald and Goofy will need to find this key." Donald ran over a list in his mind.  
  
"Daisy will you take care of..."  
  
"Of course," she said quickly.  
  
"And to chronicle you adventures, he will accompany you," Minnie pointed to a spot on the desk. Goofy squinted his eyes but couldn't see anything.  
  
"Over here!" Came a voice from the desk. Then Donald and Goofy saw a small figure jumping up and down. "Cricket's the name. Jiminy Cricket at your service."  
  
"Good luck to all of you," Minnie said as she and Daisy saluted. Donald sighed when he saw Goofy saluting next to them.  
  
"You're coming too!" Donald yelled and yanked Goofy away.  
  
"Gwarsh Jiminy, your world disappeared too," Goofy said as they headed down the steps to the Gummi Ship, their means of travel.  
  
"Yup. As far as I can tell I'm the only one who made it to this castle," Jiminy said from Donald's shoulder.  
  
"We'll probably need new duds when we get to this new world," Goofy said gesturing to his armor and Donald's wizard robes. "We've got to protect the world border."  
  
"Order!" Donald corrected.  
  
"Right, world order," Goofy laughed.  
  
Donald and Goofy sat in the Gummi Ship as the top was about to close. A blur of yellow passed in front of Donald.  
  
"Pluto! Get out of here!" Donald heard Goofy yell but it was to late though as the hole opened up under the ship and they were off. Sora and Kairi sat, alone, on the dock at their island. The sun was setting behind the ocean, turning the water a brilliant orange color.  
  
"You know, Riku's changed," Kairi said.  
  
"How?" Sora asked.  
  
"I don't know..." She said as her face turned to a concerned one.  
  
"What's wrong?" Sora asked, worried.  
  
"Oh, nothing. I just can't wait once we set sail. It'll be great!"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Sora let's take the raft and go! Just the two of us!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Just kidding."  
  
"You're the one that's changed Kairi," Sora said as the two stood up.  
  
"Maybe. Sora, don't ever change," Kairi said just before running off to her boat. Sora just shrugged and went to his boat to get home.  
  
Sora lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. Kairi's words were still fresh in his mind.  
  
"I just can't wait once we set sail." Sora sighed and sat up. Lightning flashed and he closed his eyes for a second. He looked out his window to see the storm was directly over their island!  
  
"The raft!" he jumped up and out the window.  
  
"Sora! Your dinner is ready come on down! Sora?" his mom called from downstairs. Sora landed his boat at the island and jumped out. He noticed Riku and Kairi's boats were sitting there as well. He turned to find them when a small creature appeared in front of him.  
  
"It can't be!" he yelled at the small Shadow that stood before him. Others began to pop up behind that one. Sora swung his wooden sword but to no effect. He started to run while hopping over the Shadows. He ran until he saw Riku on the small island that was connected by a bridge.  
  
"Riku!" he ran up to him. Riku turned to face him.  
  
"The door has opened," he said.  
  
"What?" Sora asked.  
  
"The door has opened Sora! Now we can get to the other worlds!"  
  
"No way! We've got to find Kairi!"  
  
"Kairi's coming with us! This may be our only chance! We may never see our parents again," Riku told him.  
  
"Riku," was all Sora could say as he shook his head.  
  
"But I'm not afraid of the darkness!" Riku shouted. Then Sora noticed a small pool of dark energy under Riku's feet. Then he noticed the same beneath himself. Dark tendrils began to rise up and envelop the two as Riku held his hand out. Sora tried to grab Riku's hand but the dark energy would not allow it. Then a bright flash over took them and Sora was forced to close his eyes. When he opened his eyes the darkness was gone, but so was Riku.  
  
"Keyblade," a familiar voice said. Sora then noticed the sword in his hand. The hilt was in the middle of two gold handles. The shaft part was a thin cylinder about two and a half feet long and silver. The actual key part looked like a crown with round circles as the tips. It didn't look sharp enough to kill anything.  
  
"Keyblade," the voice said again. Sora wanted to throw the weapon to the ground but something stopped him. Three Shadows appeared in front of him and Sora attacked with the Keyblade. Right before it hit the round circles at the tip pf the key part seemed to sharpen and slashed right trough all three. Sora was amazed by this but had no time to think it over.  
  
"A door?" he wondered what Riku was talking about. The Secret Place, that mysterious door. He set off at a run but more Shadows blocked his way. He slashed through one and spun to cut another in half. He continued to strike them down as he continued to the Secret Place.  
  
An exceptionally skilled Shadow jumped at him and blocked a strike from the Keyblade. Sora struck again but the Shadow dodged and slashed at him making a small cut on Sora's leg. Sora rolled sideways and slashed the Shadow quickly. Sora saw it was just a small cut and continued on until he finally got to the Secret Place. There he found Kairi standing in front of the door.  
  
"Kairi!" he yelled to get her attention. When she turned he saw she was in bad shape. She breathed heavily and was sweating. Her face was pale and her legs seemed to shake under her own weight.  
  
"Sora..." she said weakly. The door behind her burst open and dark wind flowed through it. Sora held his ground but the weakened Kairi was blown forward. He tried to catch her but right before he could she disappeared. While he was confused he had forgotten to brace himself and was blown out of the cave.  
  
Floating! His island was floating! Well, what was left of it. Only a large round piece of ground with sand on top was left.  
  
"Wait! The hooded man!" Sora thought back to his encounter in the cave.  
  
_"This world has been connected. Tied to the darkness. Soon to be completely eclipsed."  
_  
The man had been right. His home was being destroyed. Above him was a large sphere of dark energy that was pulling things into it. A loud sound caught Sora's ears and he turned around. What he saw terrified him.  
  
"Darkside!" he yelled. The giant monster had emerged from his dreams to make his reality a nightmare. The Keyblade still firmly in his grip he got ready to fight. He beat him before he could win again. Darkside suddenly dropped to his knees and slammed his hand into the ground so that the giant fist melded with it. Five Shadows came up from a dark void around Darkside's arm. They all lunged at him with claws ready. Sora swung the Keyblade and took down one. Two went behind him and two stood in front. He quickly back-flipped over the ones behind him and cut them down. The two in front ran at him but he blocked their attacks and sliced through them. Then Sora looked up at Darkside and was shocked.  
  
"It's gotten smarter!" Sora yelled as Darkside had used the distraction to create that familiar ball of energy. Sora dodged the first ball of light but one slammed into his back and sent him to the ground while he felt that horrible pain again. He slowly got up but another ball of light struck him on his chest and he was sent flying back and off the floating island.  
  
Using all he had left Sora grabbed a tree root that was sticking out on the way down. In his attempt to grab it the Keyblade slipped from his hands!  
  
"No!" Sora yelled as he tried to catch his only defense but it was to late. He hung there with his head down. There was no hope left. Goofy and Donald walked through Traverse Town at night. Goofy looked up and patted Donald on the shoulder.  
  
"What?" Donald asked, annoyed.  
  
"Look at that there star," Goofy pointed up. Donald followed the finger and saw a star that was starting to dim.  
  
Sora's head shot up with a new look of determination. He had to win! For Riku and Kairi! He had to find his friends and he would do it. He used the root to launch himself into the air and half way up there was a flash and the Keyblade materialized in his hand once again.  
  
"Time for round two!" Sora yelled as he landed on the sand. Darkside looked about as surprised as he could with his face hidden but got ready to strike again. He slammed his giant hand on the ground to crush Sora but Sora dodged quickly. More Shadows popped up in front of him. Sora sliced through three of them and the remaining two surrounded him. They jumped at him and Sora did an amazing split kick that he himself didn't think he could do. The two Shadows were thrown from the platform of earth and sand into the endless darkness.  
  
"Your turn!" Sora pointed the Keyblade at Darkside who Sora heard scowl in anger. Darkside swatted at Sora as if he were a fly but missed. Sora clung to the back of Darkside's hand but this time Darkside flung him off. Sora stopped himself from falling again and dropped into an attack stance. They both took notice that each second they fought the closer they got to the dark sphere of energy and the greater the pull from it came. This caused the wind to whip around Sora making it a bit tougher to see.  
  
He could easily see Darkside's hand though as he tried to dodge but was hit and sent sprawling. He got up and shook his head a little. He went back to fighting both the pull of the sphere and Darkside.  
  
"That's it!" Sora yelled. He then allowed the upward draft to grab him and he was thrown into the air towards the sphere. As he passed Darkside's head he grabbed one of the long strands of hair. He held the Keyblade above him, ready to strike.  
  
"Stay dead this time!" he yelled and slammed the blade into Darkside's neck. He pulled out the blade and let go of the hair. Darkside's lifeless form was lifted and disappeared into the sphere. This is where Sora's journey would begin. He needed to find his friends, Riku and Kairi. Darkness then enveloped him. "It's going out!" Donald yelled as the star lit up brightly one final time before disappearing completely.  
  
"We better hurry and find Leon," Goofy said.  
  
"Yeah. Then we can find the one with this 'key'," Donald agreed. 


	3. Traverse Town

Chapter 2  
Traverse Town  
  
"Where's that key?!" Donald shouted as he and Goofy walked through the First District of Traverse Town. This town was made up of three different districts. Pluto was walking beside them but suddenly ran off into an alley.  
  
"Hey Donald," Goofy got his attention and pointed toward the alley. "You know, I bet that if we..."  
  
"Aw, what do you know you big palooka?" Donald said as he kept walking.  
  
"What do I know?" Goofy wondered as he started to follow. "Pluto! Hurry up boy!"  
  
Pluto ran into the alley and had very little light to see but he smelled something. He sniffed at the ground until his head bumped something. This thing was a yellow shoe. Pluto pulled some trash away to reveal the form of Sora. Pluto jumped up and licked Sora's face a bit.  
  
"Hey!" Sora shouted as he pushed Pluto off of him and looked around. He looked around to find that he was no longer on his island. He layed with his back against a wall and on a brick walkway. "What a dream."  
  
Pluto turned his head a little and then pushed Sora with his paws. "It isn't a dream!" Sora yelled as he stood up. He shivered slightly. To others it would have been considered pretty warm but not to Sora who had lived on a tropical island his whole life. He started to walk from the alley and up some steps. There was a big sign saying, "First District" above him.  
  
There only seemed to be a few shops around and a small outside resturaunt. He stood near the door of one of the shops. He walked in to find some answers.  
  
"So this is Traverse Town?" Sora asked the store owner, Cid. He was a rough man with blond hair and flight goggles on his head. He wore a white shirt and blue jeans. On one of the tables was a small creature that was entirley white that Sora learned was known as a Moogle to these people.  
  
"Yeah, it sure ain't your island," Cid told him. Sora sighed and sat on the table behind him. Sora stopped his train of thought and stared up at Cid.  
  
"So what do I do now, gramps?" Sora asked.  
  
"Don't call me gramps, kid!"  
  
"Don't call me kid, gramps!" the two stared each other down.  
  
"Well," Cid said as he forgot about it, "You should look around for these friends of yours. Who are they?"  
  
"Riku and Kairi," Sora told him. Cid nodded. "Guess it's the only idea I got." Sora said as he stepped out of the shop.  
  
"Intresting," A voice said. Cid jumped and turned to an unlit corner of the shop. There stood a man that had shoulder length brown hair and blue eyes. He had on black jeans with a white t-shirt that was covered by a short, black jacket. One of his black gloved hands held a sword known as the Gunblade. It's handle was that of a gun with a two foot blade coming from the barrel.  
  
"Geez Leon! You scared the crap out of me!" Cid told him. "How long you been standing there anyway?"  
  
"Long enough," Leon said.  
  
"What do you think of the kid?" Cid asked.  
  
"He's not ready but I know that both you and I could sense the Keyblade within him. I'll have to test him."  
  
"Fine. Don't kill him though. If he does hold the Keyblade then he is our last hope."  
  
Sora walked into the Second District. There was a bottom part that had a fountain and a bunch of benches, plus a few houses. Then there was an upper part that formed a wall around the bottom part. A hotel and a few shops were there.  
  
"Help me!" someone shouted before Sora could take even a few steps. He summoned his Keyblade as a man ran toward him. The man tripped over himself and hit the ground. He turned onto his back and Sora saw his horrified expression. Then it happened.  
  
A shadowy, elongated heart cam from his chest and his body dissapeared. The heart then flashed and a creature stood there. It came to about Sora's waist. It was black with he fingertips sharpened into claws and a red color. It had a small knight's helmet on with two glowing, yellow eyes staring back at Sora. On its chest was a black elongated heart with a red outline and a red X across the middle. Sora guessed that it must have been the symbol for these creatures.  
  
"A Soldier!" Sora shouted. He didn't know where that name had come from but didn't care right now. A group of Shadows from his dream and his island surrounded him with the Soldier in front. The Shadows ran forward and Sora sliced one down as the flat edges of the Keyblade became sharp. He ducked as one jumped at him and turned, destroying it before it hit the ground. He struck through one and also caught the one behind that one. One final upward slice at one in midair and the Shadows were gone.  
  
The Soldier stepped forward and Sora got ready. The Soldier attacked with his claws but Sora blocked it and attacked back. He hit the Soldier in the chest and it recieved a nasty cut. The Soldier yelled at him and jumped forward. Sora jumped away but the claws caught him in the leg on the Soldier's way down. He grapsed his leg and winced in pain. As the Soldier jumped at his head Sora rolled under it and sliced backwards, hearing the sound of one of those creatures turning into black smoke and dissapearing.  
  
Sora saw more Shadows and Soldiers appear on the lower level and some on the upper one. He dragged himself on one good leg and opened the door back into the First District. He immeadetly had to duck as a Shadow flew over him. He stood as best he could with his injured leg. He tripped and stumbbled until he opened the door to Cid's shop and hit the floor with a thump.  
  
"Kid!" Cid yelled and propped Sora up. He stared at the youth's leg and focused. He wasn't as good with magic as most Mages and Wizards but he knew enough. "Cure!" He yelled. A green light washed over Sora and his legged healed up, along with some of the scars he had recieved on Destiny Islands.  
  
"What happened?" Sora asked as he stood wearily.  
  
"My guess is you were attacked," Cid said as he helped Sora up. "I take it you didn't find your friends."  
  
"Old friends? No. Old enemies? Yes," Sora said as he shook off the dizziness. Cid stared at him and finally said something.  
  
"Give it another try kid. You never know," Cid told him. Sora wasn't really happy with that notion but figured it was worth a shot.  
  
"Why not, gramps?" Sora said as he stepped out into the First District.  
  
"That kid's gonna be the death of me," Cid sighed as he walked back behind the counter. He pulled out a picture of him and another blond with spikey hair. There were also a couple other people in the picture, his former team in his own struggle against evil. He was never the strongest of that group but they were all friends. To bad all but two of them were gone, Yuffie and Aerith. He stared at the spikey haired man again. "If only you were here, Cloud. You always seemed to know what to do."  
  
Sora stood next to the door to Cid's shop in deep thought. "How did I know what that thing was called and why are they after me anyway."  
  
"It's your Scan ability getting stronger," Sora jumped at the voice. It belonged to the man, Leon. "As for the creatures, they'll keep coming."  
  
"Who are you?" Sora stood with Keyblade in hand. He dropped into a defensive stance, just in case.  
  
"That's not important," Leon said. "Now, let's see that Keyblade." Leon held up his hand and started walking forward.  
  
"No way! You'll never get this!" Sora held the Keyblade up again.If those creatures were truly after him then he would not give up his only defense.  
  
"Have it your way," Leon said as he brought up his Gunblade. The two stared at each other with heated stares. Leon was the first to strike and he sliced downward with the Gunblade. Sora brought up the Keyblade to block but the force almost knocked him to the ground. Man, this guy was strong.  
  
Sora ran forward and went to hit him with the back of his Keyblade so that when it sharpened he wouldn't kill Leon. He didn't need to though as Leon blocked quickly and also, the Keyblade never sharpened!  
  
"What the heck?" Sora yelled as he stared at the flat edges.  
  
"Confused?" Leon asked. "The Keyblade will only sharpen when attacking it's sworn enemies, the Heartless, or minions of the Heartless!"  
  
"Heartless?" Sora asked. Leon ignored him this time and struck again. Sora reacted quickly by jumping to the side. Sora lunged at Leon's open side but with amazing speed Leon blocked again. Leon swung at him but Sora jumped back at just the right time. Sora barely dodged another swing from the Gunblade as it hit the brick ground and created many cracks in them.  
  
Sora jumped down the steps as Leon leaped after him. They once again ran at each other and sparks flew from thier respective weaons as they met in a struggle. Sora moved away, knowing that Leon would win a battle of strength.  
  
"So, what is a Scan ability?" Sora asked. He was stalling for time since he was already getting tired.  
  
"Scan is an ability that lets you know the name of your enemy!" Leon shouted as he ran forward.  
  
"Why can't I Scan you then?" Sora asked as he jumped away from another attack.  
  
"Because believe it or not, I'm not your enemy!" Leon told him as one of his attacks forced Sora to block. Sora was once again knocked back from Leon's strength.  
  
"You could have fooled me!" Sora shouted as he counterattacked with a swing at Leon's head. At the last moment Sora changed his mark and spun, hitting Leon in his stomach. Leon grunted as he was knocked back. Leon looked around to see a bunch of Shadows and Soldiers rising from the ground.  
  
"Sorry, I have to get that Keyblade away from you!" Leon raised his Gunblade and a ball of magic energy was fromed at the tip. Leon shot it off and Sora brought up his Keyblade to block. The magic energy bounced of the Keyblade but Sora was thrown back into a wall and soon saw only black as the Keyblade dropped to the ground. The magic energy had been knocked back at Leon and he was knocked down by his own attack.  
  
Leon smiled as the creatures, the Heartless, went away now that the Keyblade was no longer being held. The Heartless would stop at nothing to take the heart of the Keybearer but did not yet know which person held the blade. Since it was not in Sora's hands they could not trace him through the Keyblade.  
  
Leon propped himself up on his Gunblade and panted on one knee. He rolled his eyes as he could already sense the person behind him.  
  
"Aw, you're slipping Leon," the female ninja, Yuffie came up behind him.  
  
"I went easy on him," Leon said as he stood back up. "Besides, looks like things are worse then we thought. A lot worse."  
  
In an alleyway, Donald and Goofy continued their search for Leon. Goofy shuddered as he looked around.  
  
"Gawsh, sure is spooky," he said.  
  
"Phooey! I'm not scared!" Donald told him.  
  
"Excuse me," someone tapped on Donald's shoulder. The Wizard screamed out and jumped onto Goofy's shoulders. They saw this person was a woman with a long pink dress that reached her ankles. Her long brown hair came the middle of her back with some falling into her bright green eyes. "Did the king send you?"  
  
"Wake up, lazy bum," Sora's heart lept at the sound of Kairi's voice. He opened his eyes and sure enough, she stood over him. "The creatures that attacked you are after the Keyblade. But it's your heart they really want."  
  
"I'm so glad you're okay Kairi," Sora ignored her last statement.  
  
"Kairi? Who are you talking to?" the form of Kairi suddenly changed to a girl with black hair and dark blue eyes. She had on a yellow scarf and a green top that left her stomach exposed. She also had short yellow shorts that were held up by a blue belt. "I'm the great ninja Yuffie."  
  
"What?" Sora shook his head.  
  
"I think you might have overdone it Squall!" Yuffie shouted behind her to a familiar looking man leaning on a door. He also realized they must have been in a hotel.  
  
"That's Leon," he said. Sora was confused but quickly took note of the Keyblade missing from his grip. He searched around to find it and saw it leaning on the wall next to Leon. Yuffie followed his gaze.  
  
"Oh yeah, the Keyblade," she said. "We had to get it away from you. Turns out, that's how they were tracking you."  
  
"But why?" Leon said as he picked up the Keyblade. "Why would it choose a kid like you?" The Keyblade sensed it was not being held by its master and in a flash of light, reappeared in Sora's hand. "Oh well, I suppose beggers can't be choosers."  
  
"What's going on?" Sora demanded. "Why don't you start making sense?"  
  
Donald and Goofy sat in the next room of the hotel connected by the very door that Leon was leaning on. The woman from before, Aerith, sat on the bed.  
  
"All right," Aerith began, "You know there are many other worlds out there besides your castle and this town right?"  
  
"Yeah," Donald nodded.  
  
"But they're supposed to be a secret," Goofy said as he covered his mouth with his hands as if it still were a secret to Aerith.  
  
"They always have been secret," Aerith's expression turned sad. "But when the Heartless came, everything changed."  
  
"Heartless?" Sora asked. He had a pretty good clue what Leon and Yuffie were talking about but just wanted to be sure.  
  
"The ones that attacked you, remember?" Yuffie asked. Yep, he was right.  
  
"The Heartless feats on people hearts," Leon told him. "The darkness in people's hearts is what atracts them. And there is darkness in every heart."  
  
"Hey," Yuffie turned back to Sora. "Have you ever heard of someone named Ansem?"  
  
"Ansem?" Goofy asked, but pronouncing it wrong. Aerith hid her laugh as best as she could but soon got to the point.  
  
"He used to study the Heartless," Aerith said. "He wrote down all of his findings in a very detailed report."  
  
"Maybe the king went to find 'em!" Goofy said.  
  
"Yes, those were my thought exactly," Aerith nodded.  
  
"Wait!" Donald yelled. "What about that key?"  
  
"Oh yes, the Keyblade," Aerith said.  
  
"So, this is the key," Sora said as he held the Keyblade out in front of him and studied it closer then he had before.  
  
"The Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade," Leon told him. "As its master you are destined to defeat them."  
  
"I didn't ask for this thing," Sora told them.  
  
"The Keyblade chooses its master," Yuffie explained. "And it chose you."  
  
"So, tough luck," Leon told him.  
  
"How did this happen?" Sora asked to nobody inpeticular. "I remember being on my island when... My island! What happened to it? My family? Riku? Kairi?"  
  
"You know what," Leon lowered his head. "I really don't know. But you'd better prepare yourself."  
  
"Prepare myself?"  
  
"To fight for your life," just as Leon said that a Soldier bust through the window, into the hotel. "Yuffie, go!" Leon pulled out his Gunblade.  
  
Yuffie jumped across the room and opened the door Leon had been leaning on. She felt the door hit something but shrugged it off.  
  
"Yuffie!" Aerith yelled as she followed her friend. Goofy pulled the door away from the wall to reveal a flattened Donald.  
  
The Soldier was thrown into the alleyway below and dissapeared into black smoke as it hit the ground. Leon followed as he jumped out the window and Sora after him with Keyblade ready. Leon started to cut through the Soldiers that came before him.  
  
Sora turned to his side to see a Shadow lunge at him but he knocked it away with the Keyblade and struck another one down. Leon stabbed through one of the Soldiers and then spun around, catching another in midair.  
  
"Leon! Look out!" Sora yelled. It was to late as a Soldier landed on Leon's back and stabbed through with its claws. The Soldier dug deeper, searching for the Leon's heart but Sora came and sliced through it. Sora propped the injured Leon up with his shoulder but Leon was a full grown man and this was not easy.  
  
More Heartless came at him and he tried to fight using only his left hand but he was fighting a losing battle. As one Shadow came at him a ninja throwing star struck it in the head and killed it. Yuffie came from behind them and propped the other half of Leon up on her shoulder.  
  
"Go!" Sora shouted as he let Yuffie take the full weight. "I'm the one they want!" Sora started to run the other direction and the Heartless followed. Yuffie wished for his safety and started running full speed towards Cid's shop.  
  
"Fire!" a burst of fire came from the tip of Donald's staff and destroyed one of the Soldiers. Goofy used his shield to crush the other Heartless.  
  
"Stairs!" Goofy pointed to a set of stairs, not far away.  
  
Sora opened up a door to the second district and shut all the Heartless inside the alley. He sighed in relief but then looked ahead to see even more. The Heartless ran at him but Sora was growing very skilled with his Keyblade. He desperatly cut through more until he got to a door to the Third District and ran in.  
  
Yuffie bust open the door to Cid's shop had to let Leon drop to the ground. Cid ran over and helped her lay him on a table.  
  
"You know, my shop is not a hospital," Cid told her but she ignored him. Aerith was standing in the back and Yuffie gestured for her to come over.  
  
"Leon?" Aerith asked.  
  
"W-wh-what?" he asked through his pain.  
  
"I'll heal you but you must promise to not to go help Sora, Donald, and Goofy," she said and Leon gazed at her in dibelief. "This is their journey, not yours."  
  
"F-fine," he said.  
  
"Cure!" Aerith said as the green light washed over him and he was healed.  
  
Donald and Goofy had been chased by the Heartless to a balcony above the Third District and were cornered. Goofy looked over the side to see Sora run into the Third District as well and stop to take a rest.  
  
"Look out!" Donald yelled as the Soldiers started to close in on them. "Let's go get 'em Goofy!"  
  
Sora heard screaming from above and looked up. Two figures were falling toward him! Sora started to run but they landed on him.  
  
"The key!" Donald and Goofy yelled as they noticed the Keyblade in Sora's hand. They didn't have time to speak as a bunch of Soldiers appeared before them.  
  
Sora ran forward with Keyblade flashing and started his attack. Donald scoped a Soldier out and used his Fire spell to burn it up. Goofy ran over and crushed one of the Soldiers between his shield and the ground. Sora cut two down in a spinning slash. One Soldier jumped at him but a burst of fire from Donald destroyed it. Goofy ran to the last one and hit it with his shield so it came flying towards Sora. Sora brought his Keyblade up and destroyed it.  
  
"Well, that was easy," Sora smiled. He spoke to soon as two purple, metallic feet about half his size hit the ground. Then came a body that floated just above the feet. It was cylindar shaped and widened at the bottom and it also had the Heartless symbol on his chest. The came the two arms with long, clawed finger. The last was the head that looked like a knight's helmet. It was the Guard Armor.  
  
Leon and Cid sat at a table playing cards while Aerith sat doing Yuffie's hair over. A thought struck Aerith and she looked over to Leon.  
  
"Hey Leon?"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Did you remember to tell Sora about the Guard Armor?" Everyone stared at Leon who could only say one thing.  
  
"Oops."  
  
Sora slammed into a wall as one of the Guard Armor's gigantic fists came flying at him and connected. Goofy ran up and knocked the arm away before it could return to the body and started to beat on it. Donald started shooting off his Fire spell but he was kicked away for his effort. Sora got up and shook his head and ran forward. He attacked one of the feet but created a few cuts.  
  
The arm Goofy was still beating on knocked him away and joined with the body once again. All three ran up to the Guard Armor but the body started to spin and with the arms spread, knocked them away. Goofy got up and stood behind the Guard Armor and Donald stood in front of it. Donald used a Fire spell and the Guard Armor dodged it. The attack hit Goofy's shield and bounce off, hitting the Guard Armor in the back.  
  
Using this distraction, Sora started attack the body and created a few more cuts. The Gurad Armor righted himself and punched Sora again. As Goofy tried to jump at it from behind the Guard Armor spun around and backhanded Goofy with such force that the knight was knocked out when he hit the closest wall. Donald grew mad at this and jumped forward. He hit the Guard Armor in the head with his staff and the faceplate was knocked up revealing two yellow eyes underneath. The Guard Armor growled and did a headbutt that knocked Donald away.  
  
Sora came back at him and tried to attack but it seemed that the Guard Armor never got tired while Sora had been fighting all day. The Guard Armor used both of his feet in a drop-kick that sent Soar flying again. Donald fired another Fire spell but it effected the Guard Armor very little. With one powerful punch, Donald joined the unconcius group with Goofy. Sora was now the only one left.  
  
Sora yelled with new found energy as he jumped and landed on the top of the body, face to face with the Guard Armor's head.  
  
"I've had a bad day!" Sora yelled. "My home's been destroyed! My friends and family gone! Went a round with Darkside! Fought way to many Heartless! Attacked by a crazy man with a Gunblade who calls himself Leon! The only sleep I got was when I was knocked out! Now you show up!" Sora released all his pent up anger. "Well I'm tired of this! Fire!" A Fire spell came from the tip of the Keyblade and struck the Guard armor in the face. The familiar shadowy, elongated heart rose from body and the Guard Armor dissapeared.  
  
In a dark room, five shrouded figures watched the fight between Sora and the Heartless by an odd hologram.  
  
"That little squirt took down that Heartless. Who would have thought it?" said the first figure, clearly a man.  
  
"The boys strength is not his own," said the man next to him. "It is the Keyblade."  
  
"Why don't we just turn him into a Heartless?" asked the third figure, a woman this time. "That should settle things quick enough." She laughed.  
  
"And the boy's friends are the knig's lackey's," said the next man. "Swoggle me eyes! They're all bilge rats by the look of them."  
  
"You're no prize yourself," laughed the next man.  
  
"Shut up!" the other man shouted back.  
  
"Enough," a woman stepped into view. She wore a long black dress with a hood that made it appear as if two horns came form her head. Her face was pale and she held a long staff with a green crystal at the top. It was the evil witch, Maleficent. "I'm quite interested in this boy. Will it be he who conquors the darkness? Or will the darkness swallow him? Either way he could be quite useful."  
  
Sora had agreed to go with Donald and Goofy on their search for the king in order to search for Riku and Kairi.  
  
"Good luck you guys," Leon told them as they started heading for the Gummi Ship. Sora smiled when he saw the name Excalibur on the side.  
  
"Have a nice trip," Yuffie waved.  
  
"Protect each other," Aerith said last.  
  
"We'll probably be back soon for rest and supplies," Donald told them. They waved and walked toward the Gummi Ship. Jiminy walked on the ground next to them.  
  
"I can see a grand adventure for these three. And I'll be there to record it all!" 


	4. Wonderland

Chapter 3

Wonderland

Out of the many things that had already happened to Sora this had to be the weirdest. He, Donald, and Goofy had stepped of the Gummi Ship when they fell...through a rabbit hole. It seemed like hours they had been falling. Goofy had even fallen asleep. Sora noticed the ground finally close in and he and Donald landed easily. Goofy on the other hand had fallen quite hard on his stomach.

"I'm late, I'm late, I'm late!" Sora heard from behind him. A white rabbit in a red suit looking at a pocket watch ran by. Maybe he would scratch the whole 'falling down the rabbit hole' as the weirdest thing. "The Queen! She'll have my head for sure!"

"We're not going to like this," Donald said as they followed the rabbit. As they got to the only door in the hallway they opened only to find another door. And another. And another. Finally they walked into a different room. An even smaller white rabbit ran through and extremely small door.

"How'd he get so small?" Sora asked as the three inspected the door. There was a large doorknob on it.

"No you're simply to big," Sora jumped as the doorknob spoke.

"It talks!" Goofy yelled.

"I wouldn't be if I was still asleep! You woke me up!" the doorknob yawned.

"Good morning," Goofy said cheerfully.

"Goodnight! I'm going back to bed!" he yawned again.

"Wait!" Sora stopped him. "What do we do? You know, to get smaller."

"Why don't you try the bottle, over there?" the doorknob said. Sora turned to see a table that hadn't been there before.

"Wait, when..." but the doorknob was already fast asleep. Sora shrugged and walked up to the table to see two bottles. One was marked big and one small. Sora took the small bottle and drank the liquid inside. Donald and Goofy also took a drink.

"I don't feel a thi..." Donald was cut off, as they suddenly grew smaller. They looked around to see that everything in the room now seemed huge. Goofy walked over to the door and turned the doorknob's nose. The door opened and they walked into what appeared to be a courtyard.

"Court is now in session!" they heard the white rabbit. The saw that at the front of the courtyard was a plump lady on a thrown who they guessed was the queen. In front of her were her guards who looked like large playing cards. The black ones had axes and the red ones had spears. In front of them was a platform with a podium on it. Standing on the platform was a girl with blond hair in a blue dress.

"Alice!" the queen screamed what must have been the girl's name. "You are officially on trial!"

"Trial? But why?" Alice asked in a British accent.

"For treason against the court and attempted theft of my heart!" the queen explained. Sora, Donald, and Goofy stared at each other.

"We should help her you guys," Sora told them.

"But we're not aloud," Goofy said. "That would be muddling."

"Meddling!" Donald corrected. "And it's still against the rules." Sora sighed and turned back to the trial.

"I sentence you to a quick beheading!" the queen yelled. One of the black cards came up with his axe.

"No! Please!" Alice yelled. The guard brought down the axe.

"Wait!" Sora yelled just before the axe met its mark. "Alice is innocent! We know who the real culprit is!"

"Oh really," the queen said. "Do you have any proof?"

"Well...um..." Sora looked to Donald and Goofy for help but they just shrugged.

"I will give you twenty minutes!" the queen yelled. "If you don't have evidence of Alice's innocence by then the beheading shall go on!" Two guards came up and grabbed Alice, putting her in a cage next to the queen.

"Let's go guys," Sora said as they headed into the nearby forest.

"It's to dark in here," Sora said as they headed through the Lotus Forest. They had been searching for at least ten minutes and nothing had come up.

"Poor Alice," a voice said. The three looked over at a tree stump to see a cat. No, the head of a cat!

"I hate this place," Donald shook his head.

"Excused of everything but guilty of nothing," the cat said. The body of the cat suddenly appeared. The cat was purple with lighter stripes of purple all over him.

"Who are you?" Sora asked.

"The Cheshire Cat, at your service," he bowed. "It's a shame that Alice is blamed for what the shadows did."

"You know where the Heartless are?" Goofy asked.

"They are somewhere in this very forest. Good luck," the body of the Cheshire Cat disappeared first and then the head.

"That narrows things down," Donald said sarcastically. "We wouldn't even be in this mess if you hadn't interfered!" He pointed at Sora.

"This is my fault?" Sora asked.

"Yeah! I told you interfering was against the rules!"

"So I was just suppose to sit back and watch Alice get her head taken off?!"

"It would be easier then walking around this forest looking for Heartless!"

"Um...guys," Goofy tried to interrupt.

"Stay out of this!" they both shouted.

"I will, it's just..."

"The Heartless will find me!" Sora shouted.

"Then why are we searching for them?!" Donald shouted back. Once again Goofy tried to slip into their argument.

"I just wanted to let you two know..."

"What?!"

"They're here," Goofy pointed around them to see Soldiers and Shadows surrounded them. Sora jumped over the circle of them and sliced one on the way over. Some new Heartless then appeared. They were small red creatures that floated over the ground. He focused and used Scan.

"Red Nocturnes!" Sora shouted. He jumped at one but the Heartless fired off a Fire spell at him.

"That's new," Goofy said as they went back to battle. Donald fought fire with fire, wiping out a bunch of Shadows with one shot of Fire. Goofy went against the Red Nocturnes since he could deflect their fire easiest. Sora went claw to Keyblade as best he could with the Soldiers. One Soldier jumped onto Donald's back but Sora knocked him away.

"Fire!" Sora shot off and destroyed the Soldier.

"I didn't know you knew magic," Donald said.

"Picked it up yesterday!" Sora told him as he dodged a strike from a Shadow. Goofy jumped out of nowhere and struck the Shadow down. Goofy had already taken out as many Red Nocturnes as he could and the burn marks all over him was evidence. Donald jumped up and knocked a few Nocturnes out of the sky and Sora sliced through them.

"Goofy! Grab that Soldier!" Donald pointed at the only remaining Heartless. Goofy put the Soldier in a headlock to make sure it didn't escape. "I think we have found our evidence for Alice." Donald said.

"Good evidence," Sora agreed.

"What is that?!" the queen yelled as Goofy brought the struggling Soldier before her. The cards stood at the ready.

"See, Alice is innocent!" Sora told her. The Soldier broke free and not being as stupid as some would believe, ran at the sight of so many guards.

"I don't care!" the queen shouted. "Rule 12 says: Anyone who defies the queen is guilty! Off with all of their heads!" One of the cards ran over to a tower with some wheels on it and turned them so the cage that held Alice was lifted into the sky and a red cloth went around it so she could not be seen.

"Get the tower!" Sora told Donald and Goofy. They nodded and ran for it. What must have been the entire pack of cards blocked their way. A black card swung his axe at Donald but Donald ducked and shot a Fire spell at the cards back. Goofy blocked a spear attack with his shield and knocked the card out with a hit to the back of it's head.

Sora was free to attack the cards without fear of killing them seeing as the Keyblade would not sharpen because they didn't work for the Heartless. He ran and tripped one card by knocking its feet with the Keyblade. Another came at him with its axe and Sora parried the attack. He planted the tip of the Keyblade into the ground and pushed himself up to do a drop kick and then land back on his feet.

Goofy was starting to have trouble as the cards started to gang up on him. He blocked their attacks as best he could with his shield but they came form all over. Goofy spotted on of the cards heading toward the cage with Alice and climbing up to it.

"Donald! The cage!" Goofy screamed as he was knocked down and covered by the cards from head to toe.

"Oh no you don't!" Donald yelled and shot off his newest spell. "Blizzard!" A shot of cold came from the tip of his Morning Star wand and froze the card solid.

"Nice one, Donald!" Sora shouted. A red card flew jumped at him. Sora sighed and ducked as the card flew right over him. "Why does everything I fight jump over me?" Sora quickly blocked an attack from a black card and slid the Keyblade up to the axes blade and made it fall from the cards hands. Sora caught the axe in his other hand and changed direction. He ran up to the queen's thrown and put the axe to her throat.

"Sora, what are you doing?" Donald asked.

"Hey you cards, get off of Goofy!" he shouted. All the cards covering Goofy jumped off at the sight of their queen in trouble. Goofy continued to thrash around until he realized he was free of the hold. "Donald, destroy the tower!"

"Got it!" Donald walked right over to the tower with no card interference. He knew Sora wouldn't kill the queen but they didn't know that. "Fire!" Donald shot off and watched as the tower slowly burned to the ground. The cage fell to the ground and the curtain was lifted only to reveal nothing.

"Darn it!" Sora yelled and the axe slipped a bit.

"Hey! Watch it!" the queen shouted.

"Oh, sorry," Sora turned back to the cage but then to the cards. They all started to raise their weapons.

"Anyone that says sorry to their hostage won't kill!" the queen said happily. Sora cursed himself and threw the axe in front of the cards. Donald set the ground in front of the cards on fire and the three ran back into the forest.

"Nothing in this world goes right!" Donald yelled. This time Sora did take the blame for losing their 'hostage'.

"Poor Alice," came the voice of the Cheshire Cat, "Taken by the shadows while you were to busy fighting." The cat appeared before them.

"We get that," Sora said.

"Where can we find Alice?" Goofy asked.

"The doorknob's room of course!" the Cheshire Cat said.

"That means we would have to go through the cards again!" Sora yelled. Not one thing could possibly go good for them here.

"Well, why don't you try that place, over there," the Cheshire Cat pointed to and opening in the forest wall. Then he once again disappeared. They shrugged and walked through. Sure enough they were in the room with the doorknob. Only one problem though.

"It's upside down!" Donald yelled. They were currently standing on the ceiling. Sora rolled his eyes as he was getting used to the temper of his partner.

"That stupid cat told us to come here!" Sora told him. Before Donald could say anything else a bunch of Heartless appeared. Shadows, Soldiers, and Nocturnes surrounded them from every side.

"This should be easy," Goofy said. The ground started to shake as another Heartless stepped up. This one was large and very fat. As Sora was tall this thing was wide in every direction, a perfect ball with two short arms and legs and of course a head. Sora Scanned the new Heartless.

"Large Body, of course," Sora said as he dodged a strike from a Soldier. Donald jumped away from a Fire spell from a Nocturne and fired a Blizzard spell. The spell was super effective against them and the Nocturnes were soon gone. Goofy had his hands full with three Soldiers at the time. He knocked one into another and then squashed them. The last ran at him but Goofy jumped up and came down shield first.

Sora had disposed of the Shadows and was now moving toward the Large Body. Sora focused to try Donald's new spell.

"Blizzard!" Sora shot the spell at the Large Body's head but barely even phased it. He struck at its large gut but the Keyblade bounced off. Goofy came from out of nowhere once more and hit the Large Body in the head so hard it fell over. Some how the creature got up and prepared to attack. It jumped up and came down with so much force a shock wave was made and Sora and Goofy were knocked back.

Donald was busy with the remaining Soldiers and he blasted a few with his Fire spell. The Soldiers started to avoid the spell and moved into attack. One sliced at Donald with its claws but Donald blocked. One of the Soldiers got him from behind and left a bad scratch on his arm. Donald hit it with a Blizzard spell and when it was frozen, hit it with his staff and it cracked into pieces.

The Large Body advanced on Sora and Goofy and they were running out of ideas. Goofy suddenly ran at it full speed but was knocked back. This gave Sora some time to run behind the Large Body and slam the Keyblade into its back and the Heartless died.

"Fire!" Donald finished off the final Soldier and they fell into a heap in the middle of the floo... well, ceiling.

"Congratulations!" the Cheshire Cat appeared again. "Now for your prize!" The room was then flipped around and they were once again on the floor. "Are you ready for the shadows?" He asked.

"Not really," Sora said.

"To bad. The Trickmaster waits for nothing," the Cheshire Cat pointed up to a large creature that was now on the ceiling. The Cheshire Cat disappeared as the creature hit the ground. If Sora had been regular size then he would have been face to face with this thing but now came to its foot.

It had four long legs that were black on the bottom half and red on the top. Its small torso was red with large black shoulders. Its arms were black and looked like long pieces of folded paper. It had five small heads that rested on top of each other and alternated in color from red to black. It juggled two long purple sticks and the Heartless symbol showed proud on its chest.

"Here we go again," Sora said, as he got up got ready to attack. "We just have to get to the..." The table with the potion to make them bigger disappeared once again. One idea shot down. The Trickmaster walked over to them slowly and smashed at the ground with one of its juggling sticks. They jumped out of the way and Donald fired a Blizzard spell at the creature's feet and they stuck there.

Sora and Donald fired a bunch of Fire spells at every part of the Trickmaster but it wasn't enough before he broke free. Goofy tried to trip it up by knocking its feet with his shield but it was no good. One of the juggling sticks smacked into Goofy and he was thrown back into the fireplace on the far side of the room and it crumbled around him.

"Goofy!" Sora and Donald yelled but had no time to check on him. The Trickmaster walked over to the stove on the other side of the room and set his juggling sticks on fire. He tossed one at Sora and Donald but they jumped away. Sora climbed to the top of the stove and jumped off. He placed a few good cuts on the Trickmaster's middle but did very little in the long run.

"Blizzard!" Donald shot off his spell and the fire on the sticks was doused. The Trickmaster saw this and stomped over toward Donald. Sora took all he had left after all the fighting he had been doing today and rammed the Keyblade into one of the Trickmaster's ankles. The foot was cut clean off from the force of the cut and the Trickmaster looked none to happy about it.

Donald used a Fire spell and hit the Trickmaster in his open sore and the Trickmaster yelled out in pain. It once again changed directions and slammed his stick right next to Donald. Sora and Donald regrouped near the crumbled fireplace that Goofy was still buried under. Sora had to prop himself up on his Keyblade.

"What do we do now?" Sora asked.

"I don't see any way to win," Donald admitted as the Trickmaster walked toward them and started to bring down his stick again. The stones behind Sora and Donald burst away and an injured Goofy stood there with an angry look on his face. He summoned what little magic power he had and got ready for his attack.

"Rocket!" Goofy shouted and he used his magic to propel himself into the air at high speed. He raised his shield and went straight through the Trickmaster before landing hard on the other side near the doorknob. Once again a shadowy, elongated heart came from the defeated Heartless and it disappeared.

"Goofy!" Sora shouted as he and Donald ran over to Goofy's side. Goofy had that odd grin on his face to show he wasn't to hurt.

"Just a little rest and I'll be fine," Goofy assured them.

"What's with all this racket?" they heard the doorknob yawn. When the doorknob's mouth was open a keyhole was seen inside of it. The Keyblade reacted to the keyhole and became level with it. A thin beam of energy came from the tip of the Keyblade and hit the keyhole and a locking sound was heard. A Gummi block, which was used to create the Gummi Ship came from the doorknob's mouth before it closed.

"That's no ordinary Gummi," Goofy said as gathered enough strength to stand. Donald picked it up and put it in his pocket.

"I'll hold on to it. Now let's get out of this crazy place!" Donald walked back to the reappeared table and drank from the potion that made him bigger and Sora and Goofy followed. They returned to the Gummi Ship, empty-handed.

One of the shrouded figures remained in the dark room with Maleficent as they watched Sora.

"That little brat found one of the Keyholes." the man said.

"So what?" Maleficent said. "It will take him ages to find the rest. Besides, he remains blissfully unaware of our other plan."

"Oh yes, the princesses. How is that going?"

"Very well," Maleficent laughed as one of the other figures pushed Alice into the light. Alice backed away as they laughed together.


	5. Olympus Coliseum Preliminaries

Chapter 4

Olympus Coliseum-Preliminaries

After a quick rest at Traverse Town Sora, Donald, and Goofy were off to the next world. They landed near a large stadium-like building and walked in. Inside were an empty trophy case and a few other things that would deal with a tournament.

There was only one person in the room and he was a short man that same up to only Sora's knees. The bottom half of the man was like the back of a goat and the top was that of a man but he had goat horns coming out of his head. The man's back was turned to them and he stood on a block working on something for the tournaments most likely.

"Um, excuse me?" Sora walked up behind him.

"Good, you're here," the man said without turning. "Do me a favor and move that block over there for me will ya?" He pointed to a large block near the trophy case. Sora shrugged to Donald and Goofy and walked over. He started to push but the block was made out of some kind of stone and much heavier then Sora thought.

"It's way to heavy," Sora told the man.

"To heavy?" the man sounded confused. "Since when have you been such a little..." As he finally turned around the man saw his mistake. "Oh, wrong guy. Why are you here kid? You lost or something?"

"Maybe I'm here for this tournament thing!" Sora said back.

"What? You?" the man chuckled. "Let me tell you something, this here is the world famous Coliseum! Heroes come from all over to fight monsters right here!"

"We are heroes!" Donald yelled.

"That's right," Goofy grabbed Sora's shoulders. "Sora here is a real hero chosen by the Keyblade." He said proudly.

"Hero? That runt!?" the man started to laugh loudly.

"What's wrong with that?!" Sora shouted at him. "I've fought a bunch of monsters!"

"Listen kid," the man walked over to the block Sora had been trying to push before. He started to push himself. "If you can't even move this then you can't call yourself a hero!" The strain was evident in his voice as he struggled to move it and it didn't budge an inch. The man flopped onto the ground.

"I guess you're no hero," Donald said.

"Watch it webfoot," the man said. "So maybe there is more to being a hero then brute strength. I'll see what you got. By the way, name's Phil."

"I'm Sora. This is Donald and Goofy," Sora pointed out.

"Lets go see the trials," Phil showed them the way to the fighting arena.

A man sat in one of the dark corners of the arena with his head down. He felt a great amount of potential power walk in and saw Sora.

"The Keyblade Master," the man ran a hand through his spiky blond hair. "If he would ever release his full potential he might even come close to me. This should be interesting."

"The object is to smash all the barrels," Phil pointed out to the barrels scattered across the arena. The arena itself was huge with many seats for spectators and a square ring about a foot high.

"Easy," Sora said.

"I'll be timing you for twenty seconds," Phil brought out an egg timer. "You have only twenty seconds to break all twenty-four barrels."

"That's all! That's less then a barrel a second!" Sora shouted.

"I know. Start!" Phil said.

Sora was off in a flash and on the first barrel. He used the Keyblade like a bat and knocked the first barrel into the one behind it. He ran past the barrels, each one destroyed with one or two strikes. With five seconds left there was still three barrels left. He knocked one into another and then used a Fire spell on the last with one-second left.

"I did it!" Sora pumped his fist into the air.

"Yeah, not bad," Phil said as he started walking back into the lobby.

"Looks like we're headed for the games," Sora smiled.

"I don't think so," Phil said.

"Why not?!" Donald yelled. "Sora beat your trial!"

"Two words!" Phil shouted back. "You guys ain't heroes!"

"That's not fair!" Sora shouted as Goofy counted his fingers in confusion. Phil had made up his mind though so Sora walked angrily out of the lobby.

Sora scoffed his foot in the sand while Donald and Goofy followed. He had half a mind to pull out his Keyblade and demand to be able to participate.

"Quite a stubborn old goat, wouldn't you say?" a sly voice came from behind him. He turned to see a man in all black robes with gray skin. He had blue fire on his head instead of hair. He was one of the men from the dark room.

"Who are you?" Donald asked.

"Cool it feathers," he said, getting Donald even angrier. "Name's Hades, Lord of the Dead. Hi, how you doing?"

"What do you want?" Sora asked, not trusting anyone who was called the Lord of the Dead at all.

"Hey, you wanna fight in the games right? Well get a load of this," Hades smiled and a slip of paper appeared in his hand.

"A pass?" Sora read the front.

"For the games," Hades explained. "With this, even the goat man can't turn you down. What do you say?"

"All right," Sora said as he took the pass from Hades as their hands touched for an instant Sora felt the death that surrounded Hades.

"Good luck," Hades smiled and turned away. "I'm pulling for you little shorty."

"A pass?!" Phil shouted as Sora handed him the little slip of paper. Phil was now letting people in to watch.

"Now we can get in the games right?" Sora asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah," Phil sighed. "Watch yourself though. Some real weirdoes signed up this time."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy stepped into the ring ready for a good fight. However, their opponents were unexpected.

"Heartless!" Goofy shouted. There were some Soldiers and a new blue kind that looked like Red Nocturnes beside the color.

"Blue Rhapsodies," Sora said after using Scan. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Leon and Yuffie sitting in the crowd.

"Blizzard!" Donald started off by blasting a Soldier away. Goofy stepped up and sliced a Rhapsody with the edge of his shield. Sora quickly followed up by pulling out the Keyblade and slashing down two Rhapsodies. Donald used Fire against a Soldier and then knocked it away by a swing form his staff. Sora finished it off by catching it in midair.

The crowd cheered for them and Sora smiled. He twirled the Keyblade in a circle and put it over his shoulder in a victory pose.

"Not bad kid," Phil said, shock evident in his voice. Sora smiled but turned serious when the guy who was fighting next passed him. He had spiky blond hair and glowing blue eyes. He wore a blue, one-piece outfit. The pants were baggy and the top was sleeveless. He wore a long, blood red cape that had a collar covering his mouth and nose. His left hand was covered with a glove with gold fingers and he had regular boots. On his back was a sword as big as the man in length and almost a foot wide. The man broke the stare and stepped into the ring.

"Man, he looks tough," Phil pointed out the obvious. "Maybe you'll end up fighting him."

"Cloud?" Yuffie asked herself in amazement. When their world was destroyed she thought only Aerith, Cid, and herself had survived. Cloud was long thought dead.

"Who's Cloud?" Leon asked. That's right, Leon hadn't met them until they all arrived in a place called Hallow Bastion.

"He is very powerful," Yuffie said. "Unless Cloud holds back most of his power, Sora doesn't stand a chance."

"Wow." Leon simply said.

Cloud stood in the ring until his opponents appeared. Not one, but four Large Bodies came before him. He pulled his large blade, the Buster Sword from his back. One Large Body advanced on him but Cloud stood his ground. Just as the Large Body threw out its fist in attack Cloud jumped into the air and flipped over the Heartless. As he was coming down, Cloud rammed his sword into the Large Body's head and destroyed it.

The other Large Bodies were now on alert and approached Cloud carefully. Cloud ran at one and sliced at it. The Large Body jumped high into the air to dodge and came down with as much force as it could muster. A shockwave ran across the ground but Cloud jumped over it and sliced the Large Body clean in half.

As the third Large Body ran at him Cloud sheathed his sword and pushed his hands forward in one swift motion. A bolt of lightning came from the sky and struck the Large Body right in its face, making it drop to the ground and roll around in pain, its little arms not being able to make it to its face. Cloud mercilessly pulled the Buster Sword back out and rammed it into the Large Body's round stomach, killing it instantly.

The final Large Body stared at Cloud and made a run for the outside of the ring but a magical barrier stopped it in its tracks. Cloud walked calmly toward the Large Body and then stopped.

"Don't worry," Cloud said in a dark, cold voice. "This will be so fast you won't even feel it." Cloud brought his Buster Sword up and prepared an attack. "Sonic Blade!" Cloud was so fast he was just a blur as he ran past the Large Body with blade drawn and the now dead Large Body hitting the ground.

Sora stepped into the ring, a little shaken after Cloud's display of power. Even if he got past the next couple rounds of Heartless, would he be able to defeat Cloud? Sora shook it off and focused on the problem at hand. A couple Shadows and Blue Rhapsodies had appeared in the ring.

Sora quickly slayed two Shadows before dodging a shot of ice from one of the Rhapsodies. Goofy had already taken out the rest of the Shadows, the small Heartless almost becoming too easy to defeat. Donald finished off the other Rhapsodies and the trio was already done.

"That little squirt is you next opponent," Hades stood in the entryway to the Coliseum talking, to Cloud. "So don't play around; juts take him out."

"Sorry," Cloud said coolly. Cloud had to be one of the few people in this world not afraid of the ruler of the underworld. "My contract only says..."

"I know!" Hades yelled loudly. "You think I don't know?! I wrote the contract! I know it only says you have to beat Hercules in this tournament but you have to beat that kid to get to him!"

Cloud turned slightly away from the Lord of the Dead. His hard blue eyes focusing on Leon and Yuffie in the crowd. The memory of a certain person entered his mind. "Aerith."

"Besides, its like that old goat says," Hades continued, not hearing Cloud. "Rule 11: Life's a game, so let lose and have fun with it! I mean, a casualty or two along the way is no big deal, right?" Cloud obviously detested Hades look on life.

"Fine," Cloud said as he pushed himself of the wall he had been leaning on and walked toward the ring.

"Geez, stiffer than the stiffs back home," Hades said, "Still, suckers like him are hard to come by." A growling noise was heard from behind Hades and the Lord of the Dead chuckled slightly.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy had swept through their competition without much trouble. Now Sora was shaking in his shoes as Cloud stepped into the ring in front of them and drew the Buster Sword.

"It's test time Keybearer. I hope you studied," Cloud said as he crouched into a fighting position. Sora was a little shocked to hear that Cloud knew of him being the Keybearer but ignored it and prepared for the fight of his life.

"I don't like Sora's chances," Yuffie said from the stands. She stole some popcorn from Leon's tub of it and sat back.

"Hey, that's mine!" Leon said.

"What are you going to do about?" Yuffie asked. Leon sat back and rolled his eyes.

"That Cloud doesn't look so tough. I could beat him at my full power," Leon said.

"Squall," Yuffie said sternly.

"That's Le..." Leon cut himself off when he saw Yuffie's face. Yuffie never called him by his real name, Squall Leonhart, unless she slipped up or was deadly serious.

"Cloud is more powerful than most can imagine. Nobody can match him, except for one person," Yuffie face turned into a frightened one for a second. "But I don't want to go into that right now." Leon wondered about the other person but spoke no more of it. It was time to see what Sora was really made of.

Cloud started it off quickly by running at Sora and slicing downward with his Buster Sword. Sora was unprepared but Goofy wasn't and he quickly came in and blocked the hit with his shield. Donald stayed at a distance, waiting for a chance to use some magic. He used a Fire spell when Cloud moved back but Cloud brought up his sword and the spell simply bounced off. Cloud then jumped high into the air.

"Rocket!" Goofy yelled while Cloud was airborne and used the attack that had defeated the Trickmaster. Showing amazing agility, Cloud spun in midair and avoided the attack as Goofy almost flew out of the Coliseum. When Cloud landed Sora ran in quickly and slashed at him but Cloud blocked once again. Letting out a yell, Cloud ran for Sora but then changed directions and sliced at Donald.

"Blizzard!" Donald shot off and hit Cloud in the chest. Cloud shivered from the cold but quickly shook it off. Goofy ran back into the fray by hitting Cloud with his shield from behind and almost knocking him to the ground. Cloud quickly recovered though and attacked Goofy. Goofy blocked the strike from Cloud's sword but Cloud jumped up and landed a kick in Goofy's chest and Goofy was knocked to the ground.

"You all right?" Sora asked as he pulled Goofy to his feet.

"Felt like I was getting hit with a gummi block," Goofy tried to catch his breath but soon had to defend again when Cloud struck at them. Just as the blade would have hit them Cloud was knocked away with one of Donald's Fire spells. Cloud would not give up and hit Donald on the side of his head with the hilt of his sword. While Donald was falling, Cloud dropped low and kicked the Wizard across the ring and Donald was knocked out. Sora and Goofy raised their weapons and prepared for Cloud's next attack.

"I want you, Keybearer!" Cloud yelled and ran behind Goofy so quick he was a blur. Before Goofy realized it, Cloud pinched a place on his neck and the Knight was sound asleep. Sora looked on nervously as Cloud turned toward him.

"You won't get away with that!" Sora yelled trying to sound confident but the shaking evident in his voice. Sora remembered back to the attack Cloud had used against the Large Body Heartless.

"Come on, Keybearer," Cloud started to walk forward. Sora raised the Keyblade as Cloud had his Buster Sword.

"Sonic Blade!" Sora used his magic to speed himself to a blur and Cloud, apparently, was not prepared for this and was struck across the chest and thrown to the ground. Sora stopped himself and turned to the fallen Cloud before turning to the crowd for his victory pose he had been using after every match.

"Not bad, Keybearer," Cloud's voice made Sora jumped. Cloud stood with barely a scratch on him but clearly injured. "But now..." Cloud was cut off as a large, black paw landed on him. Sora looked up to see a three-headed dog, almost as big as the Coliseum.

"Oh yeah, one more rule I forgot," Hades showed up near the exit. "Accidents happen. Go get 'em Cerberus!" Hades walked away and Cerberus turned to Sora. He brought up one of his large feet and aimed for Sora. A figure, quick as lightning, entered the arena and held up Cerberus' foot with his bare hands.

"Herc!" Phil shouted when he saw the man.

"Phil, get them out of here!" Hercules shouted while he tried to keep Cerberus under control. Sora scooped up Donald and ran back into the lobby while Phil dragged the semi-awake Goofy out.

"Come on guys! I need you for this one!" Sora shouted and tried to shake them. Leon and Yuffie ran through the door and stood over Donald and Goofy.

"Cure," Leon said as that green light washed over the two of them and Donald and Goofy hopped to their feet.

"We really have to learn that," Sora said. "We also need to get back in there." Donald and Goofy nodded and they made for the arena.

"Hey! You can't go in there!" Phil shouted at them.

"You can decide whether I'm hero material or not!" Sora shouted over his back as they ran in. Hercules had Cloud slung over his shoulder. As Cerberus turned his attention to them, Hercules ran into the lobby. Sora whipped out the Keyblade and dropped into his fighting stance. "Let's go!"

"I'm going back in there!" Hercules shouted as he placed Cloud down. Before he made it to the door, Leon stood in his way.

"I know how you feel but this is not your journey," Leon sighed. "It's theirs." Hercules looked like he was deciding for a second but then slumped his shoulders.

"Fine," He sighed.

"Don't worry," Yuffie jumped in, "I don't think any of you are giving those three the credit they deserve."

Sora slammed into the Coliseum wall and hit the ground. He looked up to see he had made quite an impression in it. He shook the cobwebs from his head and charged back into battle. Goofy tried to trip Cerberus up by slamming into his feet but Cerberus would not be brought down that easily. The giant dog snapped at Goofy with one of his heads but Goofy jumped away quickly.

"Fire!" Donald hit the middle head with his spell and singed the fur but did little less. Cerberus obviously did not like this and went straight for Donald but Sora stood in his way and sliced at one of his snouts while he was close to the ground. Cerberus examined the small cut on his left head then growled at Sora in anger. Cerberus drew his heads back and then spewed what appeared to be some type of black energy into the ground.

At first Sora wondered what was happening as the energy disappeared into the ground. Then a swirl of the black energy erupted from under Sora's feet and pain ran through Sora's body. The black energy swirled around him like a small tornado and he knew he had to break free or he would be killed.

Meanwhile, Goofy was on the offensive again and he used his Rocket attack, slamming into the dog's right head and it was snapped back. The other two quickly retaliated and the middle one knocked Goofy away with his snout. Goofy hit the wall but got back up as fast as he could. A blast of cold hit Cerberus in his middle head courtesy of Donald's Blizzard spell. Cerberus once again growled at the two and went back into battle, now full of anger and rage.

Sora fought to release himself from his painful prison only succeeding in making it constrict around him, hurting worse. Sora reached deep down inside himself to find the determination that had helped him find the courage to face Darkside back at his island. He used that quick burst of strength and freed himself but dropping to the ground in an injured heap in the process. It was up to Donald and Goofy now.

Donald had hit every head with a Blizzard spell now, all part of his plan. But now he was afraid he didn't have enough magic energy left to pull it off. Goofy was busy jumping to the bleachers and then leaping onto Cerberus' back. He smashed Cerberus in the head with his shield as many times as he could but it didn't seem to have any lasting effect. Cerberus reared back and the flung Goofy upwards and into the top bleachers.

"Fire!" Donald shot off once again making the bits of snow and ice over Cerberus' heads melt into water from the heat. He was ready for the last part of his plan but was ready to pass out from loss of energy.

"Donald!" Goofy yelled to him as he stumbled down the steps of the stands and back to the ground. Donald helped his friend up but could barely stand himself.

"Goofy, do you have any magic left, at all?" Donald asked.

"A little," Goofy said.

"Give it to me. Trust me."

"Okay," Goofy focused and transferred his magic to Donald. At the loss of the only energy he had left, Goofy fell to the ground, once again asleep.

"Let's finish this!" Donald yelled as he summoned up the energy Goofy had given him and focused on using his new spell. "Thunder!" Lightning rained from the sky and struck Cerberus in his faces. The water that had been on him thanks to the melted Blizzard spells conducted the electricity even more. Cerberus hit the ground, finished. Donald also fell to the ground next to Goofy and, like his companions, fell fast asleep.

"Due to your efforts, I Phil place upon you the right to fully participate in the upcoming games," Phil read from a scroll. "As Junior Heroes you have..."

"Wait!" Donald yelled. "What do you mean Junior Heroes?!"

"Please," Phil told them, "You don't know what it means to be a real hero yet."

"Well, what does it mean?" Sora asked.

"That's something you'll have to find out on your own," Hercules cut in. "Just like I did."

"All right, we'll be back," Sora said. Goofy pulled a small device from his inside pocket.

"If you need to contact us, just press this and talk into it," Goofy explained. This world obviously had very little technology and they seemed confused. Phil shrugged and placed it down next to him as they said their goodbyes.

"I can't believe those kids beat Cerberus," Phil shook his head.

"Just between you and me Phil," Hercules leaned down. "I had already worn Cerberus down by the time they got there."

"My lips are sealed," Phil smiled.

As Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked toward the exit to the Coliseum they found Cloud sitting on the exit's steps. As they walked up Cloud looked at them.

"Why'd you do it?" Sora asked. He no longer had a reason to fear this man but he still proved very frightening at times. "You know, get involved with Hades."

"I tried to use the powers of darkness, and it backfired," Cloud said in his calm voice, never once sounding anything but calm.

"But why?" Sora asked again.

"I'm searching for someone," Cloud got a distant look in his eyes. "My light."

"I'm searching for someone too," Sora smiled. Cloud seemed to know what he was talking about already and probably knew the answer to his own next question.

"Is she your light?" he asked. Oddly enough, Sora never told him about Kairi but Cloud already knew it was a she. Very frightening man for being so perceptive.

"Yeah, I guess," Sora said.

"Good luck," Cloud said as he stood and started to walk away.

"How about a rematch sometime?" Sora shouted to him. "Fair and square, no dark powers involved!"

"I'll think about it," Cloud said and walked away. Sora smiled again and the three of them left the Coliseum.

Later that night, Hades stood near the entrance to the lobby. In his hand was a small image of Hercules.

"He's strong, smart, caring, and handsome to boot. He's perfect. Perfect, perfect, perfectly infuriating!" the fire around Hades went from blue to red as he crushed the image in his hand. "Wait! What am I so worried about? I'll let Hercules train the kid. In the next games, I'll crush them both." Hades felt the dark presence behind him. "Hey, what are you doing here? This is my show."

"Do as you wish," Maleficent said. "But be careful not to plunge to deep into darkness."

"I know what I'm doing," Hades said as Maleficent nodded and disappeared. "Crazy old witch." Hades said as he walked away from the Coliseum, ideas of defeating both Hercules and Sora cultivating in his mind.


	6. Deep Jungle

Chapter 5

Deep Jungle

Sora, Donald, and Goofy flew by the next world. A thick jungle mostly covered it and not much else could be seen.

"Keep going," Donald told Goofy.

"But the King might be down there," Goofy said back.

"In a backwater place like that? No way. Keep going."

"Wait!" Sora stopped them. "My friends might be down there!"

"We don't have time! We need to find the King!" Donald shouted.

"I don't care! We're going!" Sora slightly pushed Goofy (not to forcefully since Goofy had not even been in the conversation) and pressed the landing button.

"No! Don't press that!" Donald tried to stop him but it was to late as the ship went hurtling toward the world below.

Sora smashed through the roof of a wooden building that was on top of the trees, much like a tree house. He had fell from the Gummi Ship on the way down and was separated from Donald and Goofy. He brushed himself off and stood up. A low growl from behind caught his attention. He whipped around, Keyblade ready.

A large leopard shot out at Sora, claws extended. Sora rolled away as the leopard landed behind him and got ready to strike again. Sora struck with the Keyblade, which hadn't sharpened, and hit the leopard in the side. The vicious cat showed his dislike of this as he crouched and pounced on Sora again. Sora tried to move but received a cut on his left arm and winced.

"Blizzard!" Sora fired the spell and while the leopard was frozen he ran in and hit him a few times. The leopard shook the spell off after a while and started running at Sora again. Sora dodged again trying to think of a way out of this. The leopard wasn't a smart fighter and his strikes were sloppy, giving Sora slightly more time to move. Sora focused some magic into his Keyblade and pointed it at the sky. "Thunder!"

The lightning came down and struck the leopard hard. He was thrown back and slid on the wooden floor. The leopard got back up with his fur singed and flew at Sora with paws extended. Sora brought up the Keyblade to block but it was knocked away and Sora knocked to the ground. Sora closed his eyes and waited for the final strike.

It never came. Sora opened his eyes to see a man standing above him. He had brown hair and wore only a loincloth. He held a spear that kept the leopard at bay. The leopard broke away and ran.

"Sabor. Danger," the man said, not sounding very educated in speaking.

"Who are you?" Sora asked as he summoned the Keyblade back to his side.

"Me Tarzan," he said pointing to himself.

"Well, I'm Sora and I'm looking for my friends. The loud one is Dona..." Sora stopped.

"Dona?" Tarzan asked.

"You know what? Never mind. I'm looking for my friends Riku and Kairi. Have you seen them?" Tarzan made some noises, sounding like a monkey. Must have been his language. Maybe monkeys raised him. Yeah right, like that could happen.

"Friends here," Tarzan repeated the monkey talk.

"Really!" Sora shouted. "Can you take me to them?"

"Tarzan go," Tarzan nodded.

"Tarzan go, Sora go!" Sora yelled in excitement. Tarzan motioned for him to follow and walked out of the tree house and onto a balcony. Tarzan leaped from the balcony and into the trees below. Sora was a little shocked but followed quickly.

Donald and Goofy sat on a rock with their weapons leaning on the rock. Sounds of footprints caught Donald's ears and a small gorilla ran up to them. In its hands was a Gummi Piece!

"Hey! That could be the King's!" Goofy shouted as Donald took it from the gorilla and stashed it in Goofy's pocket. More footsteps and a man stepped up to them in old English-style hunting clothes. He brought up a shotgun and pointed it at them.

Sora couldn't believe what he was doing. He jumped over another branch as he and Tarzan continued to "surf" down the large tree. Sora could feel his feet hurting through his shoes and yet Tarzan was doing this barefoot with no problem. The two were launched off at the end of the large branch and landed in a clearing with a bunch of luggage and scientific stuff around with a large tent pitched.

Tarzan motioned for Sora to follow him into the tent. Inside Sora saw a woman with brown hair and blue eyes with a white top and long brown skirt.

"Oh, Tarzan. And who's this?" she asked.

"I'm Sora," he told her.

"So you speak English? Obviously you're not related to Tarzan. Well, my name's Jane," she extended her hand, which Sora shook.

"There are more visitors," came a voice from outside the tent. The hunter from before led Donald and Goofy inside.

"Mr. Clayton. You're back," Jane said.

"Donald! Goofy!" Sora shouted. Donald and Sora grabbed each other's hands before remembering why they were apart in the first place and turning their backs to each other. Goofy sighed.

"Sora! Look at this!" Goofy brought out the Gummi Piece.

"A Gummi Piece? Does that mean..."

"Yeah! The King might be here!" Goofy said in an excited voice.

"Well, I guess I'll go with you...for now!" Sora said as he walked to the other corner of the tent.

"_I_ guess you can tag along, for now!" Donald yelled before he took to the opposite corner. Sora turned back to Tarzan.

"Tarzan, where are my friends," he said slowly. "Riku and Kairi." Tarzan stared at him but slowly shook his head. "But I thought..."

"That leaves only one place!" Clayton interrupted. "They must be with the Gorillas but Tarzan refuses to take us to them!"

"Will you please change your mind, Tarzan?" Jane spoke softly to him.

"Tarzan go see Kerchak," Tarzan said.

"Ah! He must be the leader!" Clayton said. "Well, let us be off!" He said. Tarzan motioned for them to follow and they did so. Jane stayed behind but Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Clayton followed Tarzan. Clayton spotted a movement of black somewhere in the jungle and stepped back, following it.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy stood behind Tarzan as he spoke to a large Gorilla in the Gorilla tongue.

"Kerchak, we must help them!" Tarzan yelled to him.

"Help them? Why?" Kerchak asked.

"Because they need us. I trust them!"

"You will trust them until they have the fur of all the gorillas on their walls!"

"They're not like that!"

"I will not help them!" Kerchak yelled one final time before turning and walking away. Behind them, Goofy leaned down to Donald.

"Uh, did you get that?" he asked.

"No," Donald said simply. Tarzan turned to them and shook his head.

"Hey, where's Clayton?" Sora asked. Tarzan closed his eyes but then they snapped open.

"Tree house!"

Clayton took his shotgun and aimed it at the Gorilla before him. It had been quite a job keeping up with the gorilla but now it would pay off! As he pulled the trigger the frantic yelling of a familiar duck reached his ears. From the jerk of shock the shot missed.

"What are you thinking?!" Donald yelled. Clayton stared as Sora, Goofy, and Tarzan came up behind Donald.

"Well...I...um...a snake! A snake slithered by you see? I saved the poor gorilla's life!" he lied through his teeth. Tarzan came forward and grabbed him by the back of his shirt forcefully and dragged him back toward the tent.

"How could you?!" Jane shouted at Clayton. "I come here for knowledge on gorillas and you're up here taking shots at them!"

"Now, Ms. Porter I..." Clayton tired to defend himself.

"I don't care what you have to say! You will receive no payment!"

"What?! Why I should..." Clayton was about to jump for Jane but Tarzan and Sora stood at her sides and stared at him with furious gazes. Clayton forcefully smiled and walked from the tent.

"The nerve!" Jane raved some more before taking a seat. "I never should have..." A loud bang was heard from outside. "Clayton?" Jane asked but before it was out of her mouth Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Tarzan were out the tent.

"Oh no!" Sora shouted as he suddenly stopped running. Not far from the tent were several knee-high gorillas but they were an odd blue color and had the Heartless symbol on their chests. "Heartless!"

"Name?" Donald asked.

"Powerwilds," Sora said after using Scan. The four jumped into action as the Powerwilds came at them. Half came straight for Sora and the other half after Donald and Goofy. Sora took notice of this and how they weren't just coming after him. The Heartless were beginning to see Donald and Goofy as a threat.

"Fire!" Donald screamed and launched the attack. The Powerwild jumped away and brought his sharp claws down at him. Donald blocked with his staff and destroyed the Powerwild with a Thunder.

"Raging Boar!" Tarzan suddenly yelled and he zoomed forward with his spear nothing but a blur as he cut down three Powerwilds. Sora followed up by using his sharpened Keyblade to slice through one and blocked a strike from another.

Goofy blocked two Powerwilds with his shield and pushed forward, overpowering them. He brought his shield up and used the edges to cut through the two Powerwilds that had attacked him.

Sora jumped into the air and brought the Keyblade down vertically, effectively slicing through the final Powerwild. Sora turned to the others and gave them a thumbs up but a low growl caught his attention. From behind Donald and Goofy, Sabor came. This time there was a Heartless symbol on his forehead.

"Duck!" Sora yelled.

"What?!" Donald yelled back but Goofy grabbed him by the back of his neck and bent him forward just in time for Sabor to go flying over them. Sabor landed in front of Sora and brought up his claws. Tarzan came from nowhere, swinging on a vine, and caught Sabor by the neck.

"Sabor. Finished," Tarzan said before going as far up into the swing as possible and dropping Sabor. Sabor regained his senses and flipped in midair, landing on his feet. Sora immediately struck and created a deep gash in Sabor's side. Sabor winced before he let out a loud roar. Soon, about twenty Powerwilds appeared and stood between our heroes and the injured Sabor.

"Now what?" Goofy asked.

"Get Sabor," Tarzan said.

"There are to many Powerwilds," Donald told him.

"Tarzan get help," Tarzan said as he suddenly reared his head back and let out a thunderous yell while beating his chest. The yell was very rhythmic and apparently meant something to the others in the jungle as many gorillas suddenly showed up.

The gorillas attacked the Powerwilds with superior strength and slammed them around. Many more Heartless appeared as the others were destroyed. Sora caught sight of Sabor limping away from the battle.

"After Sabor!" Sora yelled.

"Go! Tarzan stay! Tarzan join you soon!" Tarzan told them as the jungle man jumped into the fray of gorilla vs. Heartless. Sora, Donald, and Goofy nodded and ran after Sabor.

Sabor sighed and dropped to the ground like dead weight. He was going to die because of the Keybearer. He heard the footsteps of the approaching people.

"There he is!" Donald shouted as they made it to Sabor. Sabor lifted his head and stared at the heroes but then dropped his head again.

"Bravo," Sora heard a voice. He looked up to see Clayton with several Powerwilds and Shadows behind him. Clayton chuckled and clapped. "I didn't think you would defeat Sabor. Oh well, he is useless now." Clayton raised his shotgun and aimed at Sabor's head and the shot rang out.

"You didn't have to do that!" Sora shouted.

"I just helped him. He would have died slow and painful before and I changed that," Clayton walked forward and the Heartless followed. "We should finish this."

"I agree," Sora dropped into attack stance. The Heartless ran for Donald and Goofy as Sora and Clayton faced off.

Tarzan sliced another Powerwild down with his spear. The elephants had arrived and were now crushing the Powerwilds under their feet and ramming them with their tusks. Kerchak took charge in his fight as he grabbed two Powerwilds by their necks and he slammed them into the ground.

"Get away!" the scream of Jane made Tarzan very alert. He jumped onto a nearby tree and climbed to the top. He spotted Jane near the tent and swung down on a vine, kicking away the Powerwild that threatened her.

"Jane must leave!" Tarzan said. He picked Jane up by the waist and jumped from tree to tree until he reached the tree house. "Jane be safe here. Tarzan sense. Sora, danger."

"Well then, go help him," Jane said.

"Jane be fine?"

"Yes, Jane be fine."

"Tarzan believe Jane," Tarzan said before jumping onto another vine and swinging back toward the battle.

"Good luck, Tarzan."

Sora sliced upward with the Keyblade but Clayton moved back from the sharpened edges. Clayton fired from the shotgun but Sora deflected it with the Keyblade. As Clayton made an amazing jump onto a high wall Sora tried to follow but could not jump that high.

"Charge!" Goofy yelled out the name of his new attack as magic energy surrounded him and he slammed through the Heartless with no resistance. Donald used a Thunder spell that hit two Shadows and they were destroyed. A Powerwild attacked Goofy from behind and knocked him to the ground. Numerous Shadows jumped on top of Goofy and searched for his heart.

Sora dodged a shot from Clayton. It was all he could do since he couldn't reach the hunter. Clayton took aim and fired. Sora moved to the right but Clayton had calculated this and the bullet tore through Sora's shoulder. Sora dropped to the ground and grabbed his shoulder. Clayton smiled at the sight Sora and took aim once again.

Goofy tore through the Shadows with all of his strength and a little help from Donald's Thunder spell. Goofy went into a full battle rage and took down Heartless left and right. As Goofy was doing this three Powerwilds were attacking Donald. One jumped at him but a Fire spell knocked it out of the air. Donald shot the other two with a Blizzard spell but a fourth jumped at his back. Goofy blocked the Powerwild with his shield and this alerted Donald to turn around. With one more Fire spell, the Heartless went down.

The finishing shot never came for Sora as Tarzan swung from above with his fierce yell and knocked Clayton from the cliff he stood on. Sora took this chance to reach inside himself for a new spell. He had seen Leon, Cid, and Aerith use it and it would be very useful to him. He closed his eyes and found the spell he needed.

"Cure!" Sora shouted and the green light washed over him as the bullet wound stopped bleeding and closed up and the pain faded.

"No!" Clayton shouted. "I won't lose!"

"It's over Clayton!" Donald shouted and he walked toward the fallen hunter.

"Oh no! It's just beginning!" Clayton said as he was suddenly thrown into the air and landed on top of something but there was nothing there. The way he sat made it look like he was riding something but he sat in mid-air. Tarzan let out a yell and ran for Clayton but he seemed to hit an invisible force field and was thrown back into a wall.

Clayton pointed down with his shotgun and took another shot but Sora, Donald, and Goofy dodged it.

"Sora, what's going on?" Goofy asked. Sora focused as hard as he could with the Scan ability until a name appeared in his head.

"It's a Stealth Sneak! My guess is it can become invisible!" Sora told them. Donald rolled his eyes as if to say "duh" and jumped at Clayton. He stopped where he thought was far enough away and used Thunder. Clayton was almost thrown from the invisible beast, as it must have jerked back from the electricity. Sora ran forward and slashed down until he heard blade meet skin.

Tarzan climbed to the top of a tree and swung down, grabbing Clayton by his shirt and throwing him from the Stealth Sneak. Goofy ran straight until he hit something and then started to strike the Stealth Sneak with hits from his shield. The Stealth Sneak retaliated by hitting Goofy as hard as it could and knocking him away.

Tarzan and Clayton had lost their weapons and were in fist-to-fist combat. Clayton punched at Tarzan but living in the jungle had made him quick and he easily dodged the blow. Tarzan flipped over Clayton and kicked him in the back on his way down. Clayton slid forward but got back up and kneed Tarzan in his gut. Tarzan recovered quickly recovered and clubbed his fists across Clayton's face and the hunter was sent to the ground, knocked out.

Donald was thrown into a rock from one of the Stealth Sneak's attacks. Sora pulled the Keyblade back and summoned up his magic.

"Sonic Blade!" Sora launched forward at an impossible speed and he felt the Keyblade tear through something and watched as a leg of the Stealth Sneak became visible as it was separated from the body. The entire Stealth Sneak then became visible. It was a large chameleon-like creature. Even though it was down it still had a trick or two left.

Goofy pushed Donald to the ground as two beams flew form the Stealth Sneak's eyes and hit the ground they had been standing on. Sora ran at the beast but was blasted away from an eye beam. The Stealth Sneak stood victorious over them and charged up two more eye beams. Just as he was about to launch them, Tarzan's spear ripped through its chest and the Stealth Sneak's eyes widened before falling, dead, on top of Clayton. As the shadowy heart emerged from the Stealth Sneak, both Clayton and the monster disappeared.

"We won," Sora said as he stood with Donald and Goofy. Tarzan joined them after grabbing his spear from the ground.

"Kerchak," Tarzan said and Sora saw the lead gorilla walk up to them. Kerchak grabbed Sora by the shoulder and tossed him to an upper level of the cliffs. Sora stared at the beauty of the lake that was on top of the cliffs and the many waterfalls. Donald and Goofy landed next to Sora and Tarzan swung in with Jane in arm. Tarzan motioned them into a cave at the bottom of the even higher cliffs.

"Tarzan, home," he said. Tarzan then spoke in his gorilla language the same thing he had said to Sora when they first met.

"This is your home?" Sora asked.

"The waterfalls, they echo all the way here," Jane heard. Tarzan once again spoke the phrase in gorilla.

"Friends here. See friends," Tarzan pointed to his chest.

"Oh, now I've got it," Jane said and she repeated the gorilla phrase. "That means heart."

"Heart," Tarzan repeated.

"Oh, so that's what you meant," Sora said in a slightly disappointed voice.

"Friends, same heart," Tarzan said. "Clayton, lose heart. No heart, no friends." Sora rubbed the back of his head and turned to Donald.

"Sorry about what I said," Sora said.

"I'm sorry too," Donald told him.

"Yeah, all for one huh?" Goofy laughed as he put his arms around Sora and Donald. A bunch of bright blue butterflies flew from their nesting place and a hole shaped like a keyhole appeared.

"Another one," Sora said. He brought up the Keyblade and pointed the tip at the Keyhole. A thin beam flew from the Keyblade and the Keyhole was locked.

"What drew the Heartless to that world?" asked one of the men in the dark room. There were only two of the men and Maleficent.

"The hunter lured them there," Maleficent said.

"But he got chomped himself!" the second man laughed.

"A weak-hearted fool like himself could not control the Heartless. But the boy found yet another Keyhole," the first man said.

"Relax," Maleficent assured them. "Everything is falling into place."

"Tarzan give you this," Tarzan handed Sora a small object. Sora examined and saw it was a Keychain.

"I wonder," Sora said as he took the original Keychain from the Keyblade and put the new one on. The Keyblade then transformed. The handle and blade was made of some sturdy wood and the key part was five hard bamboo sticks sticking out from the side of the top. "I'll call this the Jungle King." Sora said. "I'll call the original the Kingdom Key."

"Goodbye you guys," Goofy waved to Tarzan and Jane as they went to leave. Tarzan and Jane thanked them and said their goodbyes.

When Sora, Donald, and Goofy reached the Gummi Ship Donald pulled out the two Gummi Blocks he had found. One from Wonderland and one from here.

"Those aren't ordinary Gummis. No sir," Goofy shook his head.

"Maybe we should go ask Leon. He might know," Sora suggested.

"I guess," Donald said. "Let's go."

"I wanna be pilot!" Sora ran past them into the ship.

"Hey, stop it!" Donald yelled.

"Oh, come on! I'm the Keyblade Master!"

"I don't care who you are! No!"

"Here we go again," Goofy shook his head and climbed aboard.


	7. Traverse Town Keyhole

Chapter 6

Traverse Town Keyhole

Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked into Traverse Town to search for Leon. Donald had the two Gummis in his pocket.

"Sora!" a voice came from behind them. The three turned to see Yuffie coming up behind them. They waved as she came closer.

"Hey Yuffie. Could you tell us where Leon is?" Sora asked.

"Training of course," she sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Where is that?" Goofy asked.

"You go into the alley and there should be a tunnel at the end," Yuffie told them. They thanked her and walked off.

The three had found the tunnel and found themselves in a cave with one half filled with water and the other side dry land. Leon was on the dry land training with his sword. He used quick and powerful strikes Sora had not seen him use before. Leon had been holding back in their fight before.

"Hey Leon!" Donald yelled out as he climbed out of the water they had to swim through and onto dry land. Aerith was also with him and stood watching. Leon stopped his training and stared at the three coming his way.

"Hey you guys," Leon said as he wiped some sweat away and sat down. "How's it been going for you?"

"Pretty good," Sora said. "We found these things like keyholes and I'm not really sure what those are."

"You found the Keyholes?" Leon asked and Sora nodded. "I probably should have mentioned this earlier but that is what makes the Keyblade so important."

"What?"

"Every world has a Keyhole and that is how the Heartless get into the world. After you lock a world with the Keyblade, they can no longer enter."

"I wish you would have told me that before," Sora summoned the Keyblade and stared at it like he had done before so many times.

"Anyway," Donald interrupted. "We also found these." He pulled out the two Gummis. "Do you know what they are for?"

"Not really," Leon said as he examined them.

"You should ask Cid," Aerith broke in. "He's an expert on Gummis."

"One more thing," Leon said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a green and brown gem and handed it to Sora. "I've been keeping this for a while and it sort of brought me luck. It's called the Earthshine." Leon placed it into Sora's hand.

"What's it for?" Sora asked.

"Once again, I'm not really sure," Leon said as he went back to training. Sora and the others headed for Cid's shop.

"Well look who it is!" Cid yelled as the trio walked in. "What can I do for you today?" He asked.

"What are these?" Donald asked as he laid the Gummis on the counter.

"Oh, those are called Navigational Gummis or Navi Gummis for short. They always come in pairs but they allow you to find more worlds out there."

"Wow. That's what they're for?" Goofy asked.

"Yup. I can't believe you guys are flying around in a Gummi Ship and don't even know about Navis. You're hopeless!"

"Hey! We're still kinda new at this!" Sora argued with him.

"Well, I can install them for you but I need you to do me a favor in return."

"What kind of favor?" Donald asked.

"This book," Cid brought out a book that wasn't in very good shape with pages torn and hanging out and the cover missing a piece in the corner. "I know it doesn't look like anything special but an old man brought it in even worse one day and asked me to fix it. You should find him behind a door with a fire symbol on it in the Third District."

"All right," Sora said as he grabbed the book and headed toward the Third District with Donald and Goofy in tow.

"Oh and one more thing," Cid stopped them. "When you're done, come find me at the small house in the Third District."

"Open up!" Donald yelled as he continued to pound on the door. The door was large and made of some very sturdy wood with a fire symbol on it.

"It's not opening!" Sora told him. "We've been trying for at least 20 minutes!"

"Well then I'll burn it down!" Donald said as he used a Fire spell. Sora expected the door to catch fire and burn down but instead the fire symbol brightened and the door slowly slid open.

"Let's go," Goofy said as he took the lead. Inside was like a small lake and in the center was a small island with a house on it. Several stones were set up that they could jump to get across. When they got to the house the door was locked.

"Over here!" Sora shouted and pointed to a hole in the wall big enough for them to walk through. They got in and saw nothing special. The house was round and in the middle was a large platform that could be reached by a small set of stairs.

"It reminds me of something," Sora whipped around at the sound of a familiar voice. There stood Kairi. "Like the Secret Place back home."

"Kairi?" he asked.

"Sora?" Goofy's voice interrupted. Sora shook his head a bit and the image of Kairi was gone.

"Well hello," an elderly voice said. Sora turned toward the door and a man stepped through. He had on blue robes and had a long white beard. "Who might you be?"

"I'm Sora, and this is Donald and Goofy," Sora said.

"I see," the man said. "My name is Merlin and the King has asked me to help you along on your journey."

"The King?!" Goofy yelled out.

"Do you know where he is?" Donald asked.

"Sadly, no," Merlin spoke in his wise voice. "The King has set out on his own journey but do not fear for him for he is wiser than even I."

"You're right," Goofy said and Donald sighed.

"Um... We have something for you," Sora said as he pulled out the old book. Merlin glanced at it and nodded.

"Ah, yes. One moment please," Merlin said as he stepped onto the platform in the middle of the room. He pulled a wand from his robes and tapped the bag with it. The bag opened and objects of all kinds flew from it. Large and small things and things that should never fit in the bag. When it was over the room was filled with furniture and other things.

"Wow," Goofy knocked on one of the tables that had come from the bag.

"As for the book," Merlin said, "Set it over there." He pointed to a small table near the entrance. "I found the book long ago and something told me to get it repaired. I carried it with me for so long and one day I ended up here and gave the book to Cid. You may look at it if you like."

"Maybe later," Sora said as he placed the book down and finally read the title. The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh. There was a small yellow bear under the title with a pot of honey on his head.

"As for that stone in your pocket," Merlin said. Sora looked up at him. He hadn't told him of the Earthshine, how did he know? "You might want to speak to her." He pointed to a pumpkin on the far side of the room. Smoke swirled around it and an old woman in a blue dress replaced it.

"Greetings. I am the Fairy Godmother," she said. "Come now, let me see that stone of yours."

"Here you go," Sora handed her the Earthshine.

"Poor thing. He has been turned into a Summon Gem," she shook her head.

"Summon Gem?" Goofy asked.

"This gem used to be a living person or animal who has had their world destroyed but their will to live was so strong that they were turned into these stones that allow them to be summoned into battle by the Keybearer," she explained.

"How does it work?" Sora asked.

"Quite easy. Call on the Keyblade," Fairy Godmother said and she placed the stone against the blade. The stone seemed to melt into the Jungle King. "Now all you must do is focus and you will know."

"Now," Merlin said, "I have much to catch up on so will leave other matters to other days. I will see you again."

"Okay," Sora said as he took the hint and left the house with Donald and Goofy behind him.

"That was weird," Donald said as the Fire Door closed behind them. Two Soldiers appeared before them and Sora summoned the Jungle King. Before he could attack another blade cut through it. Sora looked up and was shocked at who he saw.

"Riku!" he said with wide eyes.

"Hey, how you doing?" Riku asked. Sora stared at him with wide eyes and walked up to him. Sora grabbed the side of Riku's mouth and stretched them out. "Stop that!"

"It's really you!" Sora shouted.

"Last time I checked," Riku laughed. He looked at Donald and Goofy as if just noticing the. "Who are they?" He asked. Donald cleared his throat.

"My name is…"

"We visited so many different worlds looking for you guys!" Sora cut him off.

"Really?" Riku asked. "So, where's Kairi?"

"She isn't with you?" Sora asked.

"No," he sighed. "Oh well. We're bound to find here at some point." As Riku spoke another Shadow rose up from the ground behind him. "We're finally free. Just leave everything to me, I know this…" The sound of blade meeting flesh sounded and Riku turned to see Sora with the Jungle King in his hand.

"Leave it to who?" Sora smiled as he placed the Jungle King on his shoulder.

"What the?"

"Sora here is the Keyblade Master!" Goofy said. "Who would have thought?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora turned to him.

"So, this is a Keyblade?" he heard Riku. Sora turned and saw Riku holding the Keyblade but it had reverted back to the Kingdom Key when Riku touched it.

"Hey! Give it back!" Sora told him. Riku looked the Keyblade over once again and tossed it to Sora. The instant he caught the Keyblade it once again changed to the Jungle King. But how was Riku able to hold the Keyblade anyway?

"What do we do now?" Riku asked.

"You can come with us!" Sora said. "We have this awesome rocket!"

"No!" Donald cut in. "He can't come!"

"What? Why not?" Sora bent down to be face to face with Donald.

"I said no!" Donald told him again.

"Um...guys," Goofy caught their attention. "He's gone."

"What?" Sora looked around to see that Riku was indeed gone. "See what you did?!"

"Who cares?" Donald yelled. "Let's just go meet Cid!"

The three heroes walked into the small house at the top of the stares in the Third District. In the house was a bed and bunch of boxes all over the place. Cid was there but so were Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie.

"Hey guys!" Sora said as he shut the door.

"How's the ship Cid?" Donald asked, getting right to business.

"It's ready. You can leave whenever you want," he told them.

"Before you do, I have a question," Yuffie came up to them. "Have you ever heard of someone named Maleficent?"

"Maleficent? Who's that?" Goofy asked.

"A witch man!" Cid cut in. "She's the one that controls the Heartless!"

"She destroyed our world," Leon said. "We originally all came from different worlds and when they were destroyed we all went to Hallow Bastion. Then Hallow Bastion was destroyed and we came here."

"Our ruler was a wise man named Ansem," Aerith said. "He wrote a report on the Heartless but when Hallow Bastion was destroyed the report was scattered."

"I'll keep an eye out for it," Sora told them.

"One more thing," Leon said. "Every world has a Keyhole, even here. We need you to find the Keyhole and lock this world so the Heartless can no longer enter."

"Do you see now," the voice of Maleficent said. She stood right outside of the house Sora was in and next to her stood Riku. "He has abandoned you for some new friends. He no longer cares."

"No. I don't believe that," Riku shook his head.

"But it is true," Maleficent bent down and stood face to face with Riku. "Now forget about him and come with me. I will help you find what you are looking for." She smiled.

"Kairi."

"So I guess we start looking for the Keyhole now," Sora said as he headed for the door of the small house.

"Good luck kid!" Cid laughed to him as he remembered the first day the two had met.

"I'll try gramps!" Sora joked back. The three heroes ran from the house and into the Second District.

"Looky there!" Goofy shouted as he pointed toward a painting on the wall behind the fountain and a Keyhole was seen. Sora smiled and walked up to it.

"Well, that was easy," Sora said as he raised his Jungle King and pointed it at the Keyhole. A large figure suddenly landed in between them and the Keyhole.

"The Guard Armor!" Donald shouted as the old enemy appeared. The three of them had grown stronger since their first encounter with this Heartless and felt confident. The Guard Armor let one of his fists fly at Sora but Sora jumped into the air and easily dodged it. This would be easy.

"Thunder!" Donald yelled and the lightning struck the Guard Armor and the Heartless was thrown off of its feet.

"Well, that was easy," Sora said again. Suddenly the Guard Armor jumped up and changed. The feet switched places with the hands and the body flipped upside down.

"Will you stop saying that?" Donald yelled to him.

"It's the Opposite Armor!" Sora told them. The Opposite Armor shot its fist forward so quick it almost couldn't be seen as it hit Goofy hard across the face. Sora ran forward and raised the Jungle King in an attack run. Sora leaped at the Opposite Armor but was caught off guard as one of its feet zoomed up toward him and cracked him in the chin.

"Fire!" Donald shot off several Fire spells in quick succession but the Opposite Armor moved the different parts of its body and avoided them. The Opposite ran forward and slammed a fist into Donald, sending him into one of the walls that surrounded the District.

"Charge!" Goofy's voice rang out as he landed a strike on the Opposite Armor. Goofy had knocked away one of the feet so Sora ran forward and slid under the Opposite Armor. While he was directly under the Opposite Armor he slammed the Jungle King into the under part of the body. The Opposite Armor howled out in pain and punched at Sora. The foot Goofy had knocked away returned to the Opposite Armor and it was complete.

Donald had gotten up and stood near Sora. They stared at each other and then crossed their weapons. Magic energy swelled around them for an instant.

"Fire!" They shouted out and a large fireball shot from the point where their weapons met. The Opposite Armor went to dodge but the fireball was too big and it was struck. Goofy took the opportunity and slammed into the same foot again. Goofy pulled his shield up and hit the foot again and again. With one more great heave of strength the foot was destroyed. Goofy immediately whipped around and slammed his shield into the Opposite Armor's other foot and destroyed that one as well.

"Look out!" Sora shouted as the Opposite Armor raised one of its fists in rage and knocked it into Goofy with incredible force. Goofy hit the ground and bounced a few times before finally coming to a stop.

"Goofy!" Donald yelled and ran for the fallen Knight. Sora stared at the Opposite Armor and prepared to attack. The Opposite Armor took charge and changed. The body went horizontal with the under side facing them. The arms folded up and stuck to the sides of the body. A large ball of magic energy formed in front of the Opposite Armor. Sora got ready for the attack but he wasn't whom it was directed to.

"Get out of the way!" Sora shouted to Donald and Goofy but it was to late as the attack struck and a great explosion sounded out through all of Traverse Town. Sora stared at the place his friends had been a moment earlier. Smoke still blinded the spot but nothing could have survived that.

Rage took over grief as Sora turned back to the Opposite Armor who seemed to not care about anything that had just happened.

"Monster!" Sora shouted as both he and the Jungle King glowed with an aura of gold around him. "Summon!" Sora yelled into the sky. Inside the Jungle King the Earthshine gem reacted and took a different shape. Sora pointed the Jungle King forward and a gold beam fired from the tip. The roar of a lion filled his ears as a figure appeared. It was a lion and he had a majestic air to him. "Simba!" Sora yelled and pointed toward the Opposite Armor.

Simba ran forward and used his amazingly sharp claws to dig into the Heartless. The Opposite Armor charged up and fired another powerful blast of energy but Simba was as quick as he was powerful and he dodged.

"Simba, Proud Roar!" Sora ordered with rage shaking his voice. Simba nodded and stopped. The lion started to glow with golden energy and with a loud roar the energy was released. The Opposite Armor tried to get away but the blast connected and the Heartless was wiped out. Simba turned to Sora and nodded before disappearing back into the Jungle King.

"Donald! Goofy!" Sora shouted as he dropped to his knees out of grief and being amazingly tired after summoning Simba.

"What Sora?" a familiar voice said. Sora looked up to see Donald and Goofy in front of him. Goofy still knocked out.

"How?" Sora asked. Then he noticed that there was a barrier of air swirling around the two of them. A wind shield.

"Aero. New spell," Donald said. "Cure!" Donald said as the green light washed over him and Goofy and the two were healed. Sora did the same to himself. The Keyhole seemed to call out to him and Sora walked over to it. He held up the Jungle King and the familiar thin beam locked Traverse Town for good.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy stepped into Cid's shop to find nobody there. They had expected that but stopped by just in case. A small noise caught their attention and as they turned they saw a small wooden boy crouched on the ground with a Gummi Block in his hands.

"Pinocchio!" Jiminy Cricket suddenly jumped up. Sora was surprised seeing as Jiminy usually stayed on the Gummi Ship. "What are you doing here?"

"Jiminy?" Pinocchio said as he stared at the cricket. "Jiminy! It really is you!"

"What happened? Where's Gepetto?"

"We were close to going away with the world but at the last second a huge whale jumped out of the sea and swallowed us! It was both good and bad seeing as the whale survived the world's destruction."

"Don't worry, we'll help you out!"

"We will?" Sora asked as he stared at Jiminy.

"Of course! We'll find Gepetto inside this whale! It shouldn't be to hard!" Jiminy smiled at the in a pleading manner.

"Yeah, of course," Sora smiled as he stared back at Donald and Goofy. Goofy shrugged and Donald rolled his eyes. The three and Jiminy headed for the Gummi Ship. They would rest on the way to the next world.


	8. Olympus Coliseum Phil Cup

Chapter 7

Olympus Coliseum-Phil Cup

On the way to the next world, the three heroes received a call from Phil on the radio transmitter they had given him. Another tournament was being held soon called the Phil Cup.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked into the Coliseum ready to fight as the seats began to fill around them.

"Hey, you made it!" Hercules' voice rang out from behind them.

"Hey Herc," Sora smiled. "You fighting today?"

"No, not this time," Hercules gave them his best wishes and walked up into the stands. Phil stepped up to a podium and addressed the crowd.

"Hello everyone and welcome to the Phil Cup!" he said and the crowd cheered. "I would like to welcome returning champs: Sora, Donald, and Goofy!" This got a large reaction from the crowd as they stared at their champs.

"Hi there!" Goofy waved back to the crowd.

"Now let's get this tournament underway!" Phil shouted as he jumped off the podium and walked to the ring.

"When do we fight Phil?" Sora asked.

"Now. Go, go, go!" Phil said as he suddenly pushed them into the ring and a bunch of Soldiers and Powerwilds appeared.

Cloud stood on top of the outer wall of the Coliseum, watching Sora. He was beginning to take interest in the young Keybearer. His skills had improved very much since their first fight.

"Hey chuckles," a familiar voice rang in Cloud's ears.

"What do you want Hades?" Cloud turned to him. "My contract was terminated once you had your little pet attack me."

"I didn't make Cerberus do that! He was just having fun!" Hades laughed. "Sometimes the master has a hard time controlling the animal." Hades smirked and grabbed Cloud by the shoulder.

"Don't touch me," Cloud said. Hades was fed up with Cloud now. No one would give him orders! No one would tell him what to do!

"You little pest! I am the King of the Underworld! Lord of the Dead!"

"And very annoying."

"That's it tough guy!" Hades launched a stream of fire at Cloud but Cloud didn't move at all. The fire struck but had little effect.

"I should cut your head off," Cloud quickly pulled out the Buster Sword and swung it so it stopped less than an inch from Hades' neck. "But I'll leave that to Sora." Cloud said as a single large black wing suddenly emerged from his back and he took to the air.

"Fools!" Hades shouted. "I will get my revenge on all of these fools!"

Sora swiped through a Powerwild with ease and watched as Goofy took out the two remaining Soldiers. Donald unleashed a Blizzard on the final Powerwild and the fight was over.

"Winners!" Phil shouted. Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked out of the ring for the next set of fighters. While they were waiting, Donald showed Sora how to use the new Aero spell to protect him from attacks.

"It's time again guys," Hercules said as he motioned for them to enter the ring. As they did a single Powerwild and two Red Nocturnes appeared. Next to them appeared two new Heartless that looked like Red Nocturnes but some were green and some were yellow this time.

"Green Requiems and Yellow Operas," Sora pointed out before they started. Phil yelled for the match to start and they kicked into action. A Yellow Opera demonstrated its power by casting a Thunder spell and it struck Sora. Goofy quickly came up and sliced through it.

Donald took out both of the Red Nocturnes with a Blizzard spell and went to the Powerwild. The Green Requiems seemed to just stay far away from the battle as best they could. Sora cut down the final Yellow Opera and turned toward the Powerwild as well. The Powerwild jumped at Sora and landed a hard punch across his face. Goofy came in and knocked the Powerwild away.

"We got it. It's to injured now," Donald said. But a green light shown around the Powerwild and it was rejuvenated. Sora went in quickly and sliced at it but it jumped over and kicked Donald in the face as it went past him. Donald growled and used a Fire spell but the Powerwild dodged. Sora came up and created a deep gash in the Heartless' side. The green light once more and it was back.

"The Green Requiems!" Sora shouted. He and Goofy ran over to the Green Requiems and cut them down with ease. Donald then finished off the Powerwild with a Thunder spell.

The next few rounds went along pretty easily now that they knew to watch out for the Green Requiems healing ability.

"Now, with only two more rounds to be the champs once again, Sora, Donald, and Goofy!" Phil shouted as they stepped into the ring. This time four Powerwilds appeared and behind them were the hands and feet of the Guard Armor! One of the hands quickly came out and struck Sora across the face.

"Aero!" Sora shouted and the shield of wind swirled around him. One of the feet attacked Sora but the attack was much weaker due to Aero. Goofy used his shield to block a Powerwild from getting him.

"Charge!" Goofy shouted and he slammed through two Powerwilds and drove one of the feet into the wall. The foot came back and knocked Goofy back but the knight was too strong to be kept down. Goofy sprung up and kicked the foot away with all the strength he had but the foot just kept coming.

Donald had his hands full with the two remaining Powerwilds who refused to go down. A Fire spell was dodged by one of the Powerwilds and it came in with a hard punch to Donald's face. Donald flipped backwards but was able to land on his feet and launch a Blizzard spell.

Sora attacked the other foot but it seemed to dodge every attack thrown at it. Sora came up and slashed down but it dodged once again.

"Sonic Blade!" Sora shouted as he ran past it but he was a little off on his aim and only hit the side of the foot. The foot hit Sora over the head and then kicked him in the stomach. While Sora was doubled over the foot stomped on his back and sent Sora to the ground.

Goofy dodged another attack from the foot he was fighting but it whipped around and hit him in the face. Goofy fell to the ground and his shield was sent away from him. The foot took this opportunity to try to stomp on him but Goofy rolled out of the way and grabbed his shield. The foot flew into the air to escape Goofy.

"Rocket!" Goofy shouted and launched himself into the air. He hit the foot dead on and it was destroyed.

"Thunder!" Donald fired and one of the Powerwilds finally fell to his magic. The remaining Powerwild struck out with his fist but Donald dodged. Donald tried as many different spells as he could but the Powerwild always managed to dodge. The Powerwild struck Donald in his stomach and jumped into the air. Donald took this advantage and shot off a Fire spell. The Powerwild was unable to move in midair and was taken down at last.

Sora dodged another attack from the foot and stood steady with his Jungle King. The foot slammed into the Jungle King and knocked it out of Sora's hands. Sora dodged several attacks as he tried to make it back to the Keyblade but the foot would not allow it. Sora started running at the foot as fast as he could and held his hand out. In a flash the Keyblade appeared in Sora's hand and the foot was struck down.

"Winners!" Phil shouted as Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked off slowly.

Hercules sat outside of the stadium as the matches went on. Maybe he would fight one day but not this time.

"Well if it isn't Mr. Perfect," a voice came from behind him. Hercules turned to see Hades who was still angry from the earlier encounter with Cloud.

"What do you want Hades?" Hercules asked.

"I want you!" Hades shouted and he fired a blast of fire at Hercules. Hercules dodged the fire and faced Hades. They jumped at each other and the fight was on.

Sora mended his wounds as best he could as he sat with Donald and Goofy. There was a knock at the door.

"May I come in?" the voice of Cloud said from the other side.

"We wouldn't be able to stop you," Sora smiled as he walked in.

"I just wanted to see how you were doing."

"We're okay," Sora said and he turned to see Donald and Goofy had fallen asleep. He rolled his eyes and turned back to Cloud.

"Sora, do you know Yuffie and Leon?" he asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"No reason, just curious."

"They're always in Traverse Town with Aerith and Cid."

"What!" Cloud suddenly jumped up. "Aerith is alive!"

"Yeah, why?"

"That liar!" Cloud screamed and he slammed his hand on a nearby table, reducing it to splinters. Sora saw the slightest bit of red electricity jump to life around Cloud's body as he stood there.

"Who?" Sora asked as he slightly backed away.

"Hades! He said she was dead! He will pay for this!" Cloud ran from the room and went searching for Hades.

"That was scary," Sora said as he sat down and joined Donald and Goofy in dreamland.

Hercules punched Hades across the face as hard as he could and the God of Death was sent flying. Hades stopped himself and shot more fire off at Hercules. Hercules was hit on the shoulder but it did not affect him too much.

"Take this!" Hades fired off several burst of fire and Hercules dodged them all. Hercules jumped into the air and grabbed Hades in some type of bear hug. As they were about to hit the ground Hercules let go and Hades slammed into the ground. Hades quickly recovered and his fire turned red and surrounded his whole body.

"Herc! Move!" a voice cut through the air and Hercules ducked as a powerful stream of fire passed over him. The fire was deflected off of Cloud's Buster Sword as he ran at Hades and jumped over Hercules. Cloud tackled Hades to the ground and held the blade up to Hades' neck.

"What do you want!" Hades shouted.

"You lied!" Cloud yelled and added more pressure on Hades' neck.

"About what?"

"Aerith! You said she was dead to get me to sign your contract! I'm going to take you apart piece by piece!"

"I wouldn't do that," a new voice cut in. Cloud looked up to see a man walk up to them. The presence of the man made Cloud jump up only to stumble back down.

"No! You're dead!" Cloud yelled toward the man. He had long silver hair and was dressed in black with his long coat blowing behind him. On his side was a sword even longer than Cloud's but it was very thin.

"It's easy to bypass the rules when you have friends in high places," the man said and pulled Hades to his feet. A single black wing extended from the man's back much like Cloud and both he and Hades disappeared in a flash of light.

"Come back here!" Cloud ran forward where they had been standing and dropped to his knees. He ran his fingers through the ground as he shouted the man's name into the air. "Sephiroth!"

Sora awoke to someone knocking him lightly on the head. As his vision came into focus he saw Phil over him.

"About time!" Phil shouted. "It's time for the finals!" Sora got up and walked over to the bowl of water in their room, splashing some one his face. He turned toward the table Cloud had smashed and wondered how anyone could do something like that.

"Let's go Sora," Goofy said as the three of them walked toward the ring.

In the ring four Yellow Operas and four Blue Rhapsodies appeared. Behind them was the Guard Armor with no arms or legs. They quickly jumped into action as Sora cut through one of the Yellow Operas. A Blue Rhapsody fired off a Blizzard spell that Donald and Goofy had to dodge. Goofy crushed that Rhapsody and Donald destroyed another with a Fire spell.

Sora cut through two more Yellow Operas but the last shot a powerful Thunder at him and Sora was thrown back. He jumped back up and brought his Keyblade up to block another Thunder and it shot back into a Blue Rhapsody. Sora dodged another Thunder and cut through the final Opera and Rhapsody.

"Let's finish this!" Donald yelled as he ran at the Guard Armor. The Guard Armor knocked him away with a head butt and then turned toward Goofy. Goofy tried to attack but the Guard Armor was to fast. Sora also attacked but for some reason, this Guard Armor was way to fast.

Cloud sulked through the hallways of the Coliseum. He had fought the man known as Sephiroth before and had seemingly killed him. Cloud hated Sephiroth and Sephiroth hated Cloud. It was a year, maybe two, ago. Sephiroth wanted to destroy the world and Cloud went to stop him. He remembered everything.

"This is it!" Cloud yelled as he pulled out the Buster Sword and stood face to face with Sephiroth. One final showdown.

"_When this is over I shall stand over your dead body!" Sephiroth roared as the two prepared for battle. Pain swept over both of them as they both suddenly received a single black wing from their backs. They were more powerful than anyone else. They were truly Gods now. _

"_You will fall!" Cloud jumped forward and slashed with the Buster Sword but Sephiroth blocked it. They fought for hours on end, neither willing to concede. _

"_Die Cloud!" Sephiroth screamed as he brought his blade down with all the remaining strength he had._

"_No!" Cloud yelled as energy filled him again as he thought of all those who counted on him. "Omnislash!" Cloud shot at Sephiroth with amazing speed and swung the Buster Sword with fierce power. For the final strike Cloud jumped up and energy filled the blade. Cloud shot off the energy and an unstoppable beam of power ripped through the ground and connected with Sephiroth._

"_No! This isn't the end!" Sephiroth yelled as he was destroyed. _

"_Finished," Cloud said as he dropped to the ground and just wanted to sleep. But he couldn't, his journey wasn't over._

That was so long ago it felt like an eternity. Cloud punched the wall next to him and put a hole in it.

"Sephiroth may be alive. But not for long," Cloud vowed as he ran from the Coliseum to begin his search.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy all were surrounded by the Aero spell to protect them from the Guard Armor's attacks. The Guard Armor zoomed around the ring at amazing speed and they were unable to land any hits.

"Even if he slowed down we couldn't hit him!" Donald yelled.

"Yeah! He's to high!" Goofy said as he tried to jump up at the Guard Armor. Sora tried to figure a way to defeat the Guard Armor but was coming up blank. He had to roll to the left to dodge another attack.

"Thunder!" Sora yelled as the lightning rained from the sky. The Guard Armor was hit and stopped for a split second.

"That's it!" Donald yelled. "Sora, do that again!"

"Thunder!" Sora yelled once more and the Guard Armor was slowed down again for just a second.

"Gravity!" Donald yelled his newest magical attack. In that one second a swirling ball of black magic hit the Guard Armor and it came crashing down to the ground. Sora yelled a fierce battle cry as he ran forward and swung his Jungle King with all his strength and the Guard Armor was defeated.

"And they are still Champions!" Phil yelled as the three tried to support each other after the long day of battle. They would definitely need to rest in the Gummi Ship after this. Phil gave them the trophy that they won and they displayed it in the trophy case in the lobby.

"Come back for the next tournament!" Hercules waved as they headed out of the Coliseum, to get to the next world.


	9. Agrabah

Chapter 8

Agrabah

"Well, how are things going?" Maleficent asked as she walked through the city of Agrabah with Jafar, the royal vizier and one of the men from the dark room. He wore red and black robes with a long staff that had a snake's head on top.

"We have yet to find the keyhole and the princess has gone into hiding. No doubt with help from the street rat. But we have the Heartless searching all over the desert for the princess and the Keyhole," Jafar said.

"Good. The Keyhole is important but not as important as the princess," Maleficent grinned at the thought of success.

"Why is that, anyway?"

"We need all seven Princesses of Heart to open the final door and unleash true darkness upon all of the worlds," the two laughed as a parrot flew up to them and perched himself on Jafar's shoulder.

"Well Iago?" Jafar asked.

"We still can't find that princess!" Iago screamed.

"Be patient," Jafar smiled. "Agrabah and all of the other worlds will be ours soon enough."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were currently locked in combat at the city gates of Agrabah. As soon as they had landed the Heartless struck. There were Shadows and a new Heartless. It wore a turban over its face, a purple outfit, and had a short sword in its hand. They were called Bandits.

Sora swung the Jungle King and blocked a strike from a Bandit. The Heartless quickly drew its sword back and sliced again. Sora jumped backwards and swung the Keyblade when the Bandit was open, killing it

All of the Shadows surrounded Goofy and started to close in. Goofy tried to think of an attack to use.

"Tornado!" Goofy held his shield horizontally and used his magic energy to spin himself really quickly, easily defeating the Shadows.

Two Bandits advanced on Donald and Donald used Fire on them. The two Bandits blocked the fire and advanced on Donald with blades pointed ahead of them. Donald quickly spun out of the way and bashed one of them on the back of the head as hard as he could and it was killed. The other Bandit grabbed the ground and flipped back onto his feet. Donald ran forward and blocked a strike from the Bandit's sword then blasted it with a Blizzard spell.

"It's really empty here," Sora said as he allowed the Keyblade to disappear. Goofy looked around and nodded.

"They were probably run off by the Heartless," Donald suggested. Goofy looked around once more and caught a cloaked figure run into the next part of the city.

"Over there!" Goofy yelled and they took off after the figure. Sora ran ahead of them and saw the figure run through a doorway into another area of the city but luckily for Sora there was no where to run in that area since it had high walls all around it.

"Stop!" Sora yelled and he pushed himself forward and grabbed the figure by the waist and pulled the figure to the ground.

"All right!" Donald yelled as he caught up. "Who are you?" Donald grabbed the hood of the cloak and pulled it back to reveal…a woman. Her skin was tanned from life in the desert and she wore blue, silk clothes. She had long black hair with brown eyes and expensive jewelry on her ears and around her neck.

"Oh! Sorry!" Sora said as he helped her up.

"It's okay," she said but eyed them suspiciously.

"My name's Sora and this is Donald and Goofy."

"My name is Jasmine."

"Ah! Jasmine!" a voice rang out above them. Standing on one of the walls was Jafar with two Bandits next to him. "I've been looking all over for you my dear princess. I've been so worried."

"Stay away from me Jafar!" Jasmine yelled. "And what have you done with Aladdin?"

"The street rat? He's taken a small trip to the Cave of Wonders. I'd expect him back in about ten thousand years or so."

"No," Jasmine's eyes went wide.

"Who do you think you are?" Donald shouted as the three of them stood in front of Jasmine and pulled out their weapons.

"You!" Jafar yelled as he saw the Keyblade. "Heartless! Attack!" Jafar pointed at them with his staff and the two Bandits came at them.

"Two Bandits? That's it?" Sora laughed. Soon more and more Bandits appeared as well as Shadows. There was also a couple of a new type of Heartless. It looked like a Large Body but had the clothes of a Bandit. "A Fat Bandit!"

"Don't let them get Jasmine!" Donald yelled as they attacked the Heartless. Sora was able to cut through some of them but they started to pile on him.

"Help me!" Jasmine's voice came through the many Heartless.

"Jasmine!" Sora shouted as he tried to reach her but it was impossible. Goofy and Donald were having the same troubles but managed to take down a few Heartless. Sora jumped into a window frame and then to the top of the wall to see Jafar was gone.

"Sora!" Donald yelled. "Over there!" Donald pointed to where Jasmine was. Two Fat Bandits were carrying her off.

"I don't think so!" Sora yelled and ran toward the edge of the wall. He jumped as far as he could and on the way down slammed the Keyblade into the back of one of the Fat Bandits. The other dropped Jasmine and turned toward Sora.

"Charge!" Goofy suddenly appeared from nowhere and knocked the Fat Bandit to the ground. The Fat Bandit got up and leaned back as far as it could go. When it came back a stream of fire came from its mouth. Goofy jumped in front of Sora and held his shield in front of him but the fire was to strong and knocked them both back into a wall. Their heads crashed together and they were both knocked out.

"No!" Jasmine cried as she saw this. She was once again picked up by two Fat Bandits and was taken away.

"Blizzard!" Donald tried to fight his way through to Sora and Goofy since the Heartless were now jumping on top of them to grab their hearts. He summoned all of the magic energy he had and focused it into one attack.

"Thunder!" Donald yelled at the top of his lungs and a gigantic blot of lightning rained from the sky and slammed into the Heartless, destroying them instantly. Donald was now to tired to go on and dropped to the ground. Unconscious.

Sora wasn't sure how long he had been knocked out on the streets of Agrabah but it was now night when it had been day. He stood but a sharp pain ran through his back. He felt his back and felt a long cut there. Heartless.

"Sora?" Goofy asked as he started to stir himself up. Sora walked over and tried to help Goofy up but didn't have enough strength to do so. Sora cast Cure on himself, Goofy, and the still unconscious Donald. Donald stirred when the green light washed over him and they all were able to stand at least.

"We need to find a place to rest," Sora said as he shook some feeling back into his limbs. Goofy pointed toward a set of stairs that led into a building. They climbed them and came into a room that had a bunch of junk all over the floor and a makeshift bed was placed in the corner.

"I can't believe I'm still tired," Donald said as he found a comfortable spot and lay down to fall asleep. Goofy and Sora did the same.

The next morning Sora awoke to something brushing his face. He waved his hand in front of him to stop whatever it was and opened his eyes to see one of the strangest things he had ever seen. A carpet.

"What the heck?" Sora asked as he stood up and saw that the carpet also stood. It was like the carpet was magic.

"Hey Sora, what are you doing?" Goofy asked as he stood up. Donald also woke and both of them stopped when they saw the carpet. It seemed to want something as it waved its tassels and pointed them toward the desert.

"You want us to go out there?" Donald asked. The carpet nodded and flattened itself so they could get on.

"Why not?" Sora shrugged as he thought of all the weird things they had encountered already. They got on the carpet and it flew toward the desert.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Donald asked as they scanned the desert. It had been sand as far as the eye could see for the past half hour.

"There!" Sora shouted and pointed to a young man fighting a bunch of Bandits. The young man wore tattered clothing and had dark hair and he fought with a deadly looking scimitar.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy hopped off of the carpet and ran toward him. As soon as they got close enough all of the Bandits spun around and stared at Sora. Goofy was the first to reach them and he slammed a few of them away with his shield. Sora reached them next and cut one of them down before turning to the young man.

"Hi, name's Sora."

"My name is Aladdin," he said though he stood his distance, not sure if he could trust the newcomers.

"Gravity!" Donald shouted as one of the Bandits jumped into the air and it was crushed into the sand. Aladdin sliced through one with his scimitar and turned to attack another but his strike was blocked. The Bandit pushed back Aladdin's blade and swung at his leg. Aladdin flipped backwards and caught the Bandit on his scimitar as he did so.

Sora quickly went to work on two more Bandits but there were to many. It seemed that every time a Bandit was killed another took its place. Aladdin was knocked back and several Bandits came after him. Aladdin quickly pulled a small gold lamp from his belt and held it up.

"Genie! Get rid of these guys!" he yelled and swirling blue smoke came from the tip of the lamp. The blue genie fully formed and with a snap of his fingers, the Bandits were all gone.

"That's wish one Al!" Genie smiled.

"I know," Aladdin said as he plopped into the sand after the fight.

"Wish?" Goofy asked as they came over and sat next to him.

"That's right!" Genie shouted. "I am the genie of the lamp and who ever rubs that lamp gets three wishes! Only three though and then I make like a banana and split! I am sealed inside that lamp forever unless someone wishes for my freedom. So what is your next wish Al?"

"You'll have to give me time to think about it," Aladdin said. "There's this girl I would like to impress though. Her name is Jasmine and…"

"Jasmine!" Sora jumped up as he remembered the princess. "She's in trouble Aladdin! Jafar has her!"

"What are we waiting for then?" Aladdin jumped on to the magic carpet and Sora and the others followed as they raced back to Agrabah.

"Here we are princess," Jafar said as he walked up to the gates of the palace. Maleficent appeared before them to take Jasmine.

"No!" Sora shouted as he ran up to them with the others shortly behind him. He then spotted the witch that stood before Jafar. "Wait! Are you, Maleficent?"

"Take care of them," Maleficent sneered and disappeared again and with no princess for her prize.

"Genie," Aladdin whispered as he rubbed the lamp. "Get Jasmine."

"Got it Al," Genie appeared behind Jafar with Jasmine in his arms. "Two wishes down and one to go. You're making this really easy."

"I don't think so street rat," Jafar laughed as Aladdin felt the lamp leave his hands. He looked up to see Iago laughing and taking the lamp to Jafar. When the lamp fell into Jafar's hands Genie had to disappear.

"Sorry Al," Genie said as he dropped Jasmine into a large pot. A lot of other pots in the area suddenly sprang to life as legs sprout from the sides.

"Heartless," Sora said. "They're called Pot Spiders."

"So sorry but I must be going," Jafar laughed and he, Iago, and the pot with the princess disappeared.

"Get 'em!" Donald yelled as he ran at the Pot Spiders. Two of the pots burst away to reveal a head and tail of a centipede. The Pot Spiders joined together with the head and tail to create the Pot Centipede.

Sora slashed at the head but it had a hard exterior and the Keyblade could not penetrate it. Aladdin ran forward and smashed on of the Pot Spiders but another took its place. Goofy ran for the tail but it had two whip-like tentacles coming from it and he was whipped away from it.

"We really don't have time for this!" Aladdin yelled as he tried to kill more of the Pot Spiders to no avail.

"Leave it to me!" Sora yelled and gathered up his magic. "Sonic Blade!" He yelled and ran past the Pot Centipede at the speed of sound. He destroyed the head, tail, and anything in between on his way past.

"Back to the desert! They'll head for the Cave of Wonders!" Aladdin yelled and they hopped back on the carpet.

"Genie!" Jafar yelled from deep within the Cave of Wonders in a treasure chamber. "My first wish! Reveal to me the Keyhole!" Genie stared at Jafar and reluctantly snapped his fingers so that a portion of the wall exploded to reveal the Keyhole.

"Now!" Sora yelled as they ran into the Cave of Wonders after barely getting past the tiger head guardian. A couple of Heartless got in their way but it was nothing to bad. A Fat Bandit appeared before them but Aladdin flipped over and stabbed it in the back the same time Sora stabbed its stomach.

"This way!" Aladdin got them to follow him as the closed in on Jafar. They could see the gold ahead and they ran past it into the treasure chamber.

"You again?" Jafar asked. "You are very persistent. Genie! My second wish, destroy them!"

"Well actually, I can't kill people. It's a rule," Genie said with a smile.

"Then hurt them real bad! Just get them out of my hair!"

"Yes, _master_," Genie said as he turned toward Donald and Goofy. "I am really sorry about having to hurt you guys."

"Don't be," Donald said. "We won't let you." Donald pulled out his staff and Goofy readied his shield. Sora and Aladdin stood off against Jafar and Donald and Goofy stood off against Genie.

Jafar sealed the Keyhole behind a magical barrier and turned back to Sora and Aladdin. Sora ran toward Jafar but Jafar fired a stream of heat from his staff and it blew Sora back into the cave wall. Aladdin came up behind Jafar but the evil vizier quickly turned and fired a blast of cold. To the desert dwelling Aladdin this was too much cold and he was sent back.

Genie shot off a magical blast at Goofy but it was blocked by Goofy's shield. Donald came up behind him and blasted him with a Fire spell. Genie wasn't affected too much and he turned to fire another attack.

"Aero!" Sora yelled as he encased himself in the wind shield. The heat beam from Jafar was about to hit but Aero blew it away and gave Sora an opening. Jafar was sliced on the arm as he tried to dodge Sora's attack. He growled at Sora and had to quickly react and block a strike from Aladdin with his staff.

Donald jumped over Genie's attack and blasted him right in the face with a Fire spell. Goofy came back and slammed his shield into Genie's gut. Genie went to hit Goofy but he ducked and caught Genie in the stomach with the edge of his shield. Donald quickly took advantage of Genie's sudden distraction and hit him with Blizzard.

Sora brought his Jungle King up at Jafar but Jafar jumped back and knocked Sora in the head with his staff. Jafar noticed Aladdin coming up to him with sword drawn and just as Aladdin was about to hit Jafar turned himself into a ball of energy. The sword went straight through the energy and Aladdin fell to the ground.

Genie charged up a large amount of energy until he had an attack as big as himself. He fired the energy and it split in two. One hit Donald and the Wizard was sent flying and into the wall. Goofy brought his shield up but the magical energy hit hard. Goofy was thrown back but the shield had taken most of the hit. Goofy got up to see Genie charging another blast.

"You should have stayed down," Genie said as he prepared to fire.

Sora and Aladdin followed the ball of energy all around the room and as they got near it a powerful blast of magic sent them flying backwards. Sora slowly got back to his feet and so did Aladdin.

"You fools can't win!" Jafar yelled as he reformed again. Jafar fired a blast of cold again and Sora was able to move away but Aladdin was struck again. Aladdin hit the ground and shivered.

"Aladdin!" Sora ran over to him. "What's wrong?"

"I lived in the desert my whole life," he chattered. "I never felt this cold before."

"That's right. You haven't," Sora said with a smile. "Neither has Jafar."

Goofy ran toward Genie and leaped over the attack Genie sent out. He powered up the best attack he could muster.

"Tornado!" Goofy yelled and he spun around many times with his shield held out. It smacked Genie in the head again and again and Genie finally fell to the ground. As Goofy dropped his shield and fell to the ground in victory. Genie got back up again with an even bigger attack then before.

Sora charged as much magical power as he could inside the tip of the Keyblade until there was so much the wind started to pick up inside the small room. The Jungle King let off a bright blue shine as it radiated with power. Sora pushed himself to make his attack stronger. Then, Sora felt his attack go to the next level.

"What is going on?" Jafar yelled as he noticed the wind pick up around him a little. As strong as his magic was he couldn't generate wind like this.

"Take this, Jafar!" Sora yelled and leveled the Jungle King at Jafar. "This is it! Blizarra!" Sora fired the updated Blizzard spell and watched as the giant blast of cold energy enveloped Jafar and tossed him into the wall and then into a crumbled heap on the floor. He was defeated.

Genie stopped right before he fired the magic at Goofy. Jafar's control over him was slipping away.

"Aladdin!" the voice of Jasmine rang out. Aladdin turned to see Jasmine behind the barrier that Jafar put up. In a flash of light the barrier disappeared and Aladdin ran up to her and the two embraced.

"No!" Jafar suddenly yelled as he stood up much to the shock of everyone. "I am the most powerful one here! Genie! My third wish! Make me an all-powerful Genie! Make me unstoppable!"

Genie frowned as he remembered Jafar had one wish left. He closed his eyes and pointed his finger at Jafar.

"Genie! No!" Aladdin yelled but it was to late and the magic beam hit Jafar. Jafar started to transform. His power grew and a hole was blasted into the floor. Jafar laughed as he went through the hole and into a lava filled chamber below.

"Jasmine! Stay here!" Aladdin said as he ran toward the hole in the floor. Sora had just cured Donald and Goofy.

"No Aladdin!" she grabbed his arm. "It's way to dangerous!"

"Do you trust me?" Aladdin asked.

"Yes," she nodded.

"Then trust that I'll be back!" Aladdin broke away from her and dived into the hole in the floor. Sora, Donald, and Goofy followed. Jasmine went to watch what was going to happen and didn't notice the portal of darkness behind her.

It was too hot for Sora to describe. There were a bunch of platforms in the giant lava filled chamber and no sign of Jafar. The lava burst around them as a giant form filled the room. It was Jafar.

"You fools! I will soon rule all!" he shouted. He had turned into a large red Genie easily ten times the size of Genie himself.

"Oh yeah!" Genie yelled. He flew toward Jafar and fired a gigantic blast of magical energy. It hit Jafar but had very little effect on him. Jafar laughed and backhanded Genie and he was thrown into one of the walls and was knocked out.

"No! Genie!" Aladdin yelled. He had no time to see if Genie was okay because a large beam of red magic struck the ground near him. Aladdin rolled out of the way but the power of the beam blew him backwards. There was no way they could fight Jafar now.

"Watch out Aladdin!" Jasmine yelled from above. She brought her head up and saw their only chance. Jafar was now a Genie. He had a lamp and it was resting on the other side of the hole. Jasmine dove for it but someone else grabbed it.

"I'll take that!" Iago laughed as he flew down into the hole to watch the battle from high above. Jasmine suddenly felt two strong arms grab her and a hand clamp over her mouth tightly.

"And I'll take you," a voice said. The person took her to the portal of darkness he had created and tossed her in, sending her to Maleficent. Riku took one last look into the hole and smiled before walking into the portal himself.

Sora dodged a large ball of lava that Jafar had thrown at him. He landed on his back and almost was thrown off of the platform. Sora lay there for a second and noticed Iago flying around the top of the room. He had a plan.

"Donald! I need you to hold off Jafar!" Sora yelled.

"You need me to what?" Donald yelled.

"Trust me!" Sora told him. "Goofy. Come over here!" Goofy nodded and ran over toward Sora.

"What's up Sora?" He asked.

"Goofy I need you to do that Rocket attack," Sora said.

Donald watched as Jafar was set to fire another huge beam of magic. Donald figured if Sora could pull off level two magic then he could too. Jafar fired the beam and Donald prepared his attack. He powered it up in his staff and it started to glow bright red as the power stared to form.

"My turn!" Donald yelled. "Fira!" Donald shot off the second level Fire spell and watched as it met Jafar's beam halfway. Donald braced himself as he tried to push his attack through Jafar's. Jafar was doing the same.

"Hang on!" Aladdin shouted as he noticed Donald starting to slip. He ran over and held Donald by the shoulders. He pushed to keep Donald in place so he could continue his battle of magic with Jafar.

"Rocket!" Goofy yelled and his magic propelled him into the air. Except now Sora held on to the front of his shield and he was pushed forward. As they were pushed into the air Sora rearranged it so the he was under Goofy. When he felt they were starting to fall he made it so Goofy was standing on his back.

"Now!" Sora told him.

"Rocket!" Goofy yelled again and from his point on Sora he was launched even further into the air. He reached Iago in the air and knocked the parrot into the wall. On his way down Goofy grabbed the falling lamp.

"You waste your time!" Jafar continued to push his beam against Donald's spell. They still met halfway and neither moved an inch.

"Okay Jafar!" Sora ran up to them. "You want to be a Genie? There are a few rules. One! You must be in a lamp!" Sora held up the lamp and Jafar gasped in shock. Gold braces appeared on his wrists as he was pulled into the lamp. Sora tried his hardest to stand his ground as Jafar was being pulled in a giant wind was blowing around the room.

"It's over," Aladdin smiled as Jafar was completely pulled into the lamp. Genie slowly shook his head as he floated back up. From the hole above the magic carpet came down to them. Sora and Aladdin jumped on the carpet and Genie carried Donald and Goofy up to the small room where the Keyhole was. Before they were out Sora noticed a piece of paper on the ground. The top of it read, "Ansem's Report 1." It was a piece of Ansem's Report! He would have to read it later.

"Jasmine?" Aladdin looked around only to find she was not there. Sora wanted to look for Jasmine but had more pressing matters at the time. He held the Jungle King up to the Keyhole and heard it click. As he did this sand poured out and covered it up.

"Well, that part's over," Goofy smiled. Suddenly the room started to shake. From the giant pile of sand that covered the Keyhole a stream of lava burst out. Sora jumped on the carpet and Genie went as fast as he could with Donald and Goofy.

"Aladdin, let's go!" Sora yelled.

"I can't find Jasmine!" he yelled back.

"We'll do that at some other time!" Sora grabbed Aladdin as they flew by on the carpet and forced him on as the lava covered where Aladdin had been. Suddenly a large wave of lava burst forth and they flew for their lives. Genie and the carpet dodged the burst of lava from all around and the large rocks. With the entrance to the Cave of Wonders closing ahead of them they flew as fast as they could they escaped just as the entrance was sealed. For good, hopefully.

Everyone sat in Aladdin's house pondering what could have happened. Sora, Donald, and Goofy coming to the same conclusion.

"I bet Maleficent has her," Donald said.

"Yeah," Sora stood up. "The problem is we don't know where Maleficent is."

"Guys. I'm going with you!" Aladdin declared as he stood up.

"We'd love for you to come," Goofy said. "But we'd be breaking some major rules and it simply can't be allowed. We must protect the world border."

"Order," Donald said through his teeth.

"Hey, Al!" Genie jumped up. "You still have one wish left! Just say the word and Jasmine is back!"

"Genie," Aladdin started, "I wish for your freedom."

"Al!" Genie yelled in disbelief. Suddenly the gold cuffs on his arms broke off and he felt his own wishes coming to him. He was free.

"But Genie, could you go with them?" Aladdin asked.

"Sorry Al, I'm done taking orders," Genie turned his back. "But a favor is another story entirely." Genie turned back around and smiled. He shined a great blue color and suddenly turned into a Summon Gem.

"Thanks Genie," Aladdin said. Sora walked over to the gem and pressed it into his Keyblade. He now had two summons, Simba and Genie.

"We better be going," Donald said as they turned to leave.

"Wait!" Aladdin stopped them. "Take this too." He handed Sora something. It was another Keychain. He took off the Jungle King and placed it in his pocket with the Kingdom Key. He placed the new Keychain on and the Keyblade transformed. It got smaller in length and became a sand color. It was very elegant and it curved at the top making the key part.

"I think I'll call this one…the Three Wishes," Sora said as he examined his new Keyblade. They said their goodbyes and were on their way to the next world.


	10. Monstro

Chapter 9

Monstro

Sora, Donald, and Goofy flew through space in the Gummi Ship. They would soon come up to the next world.

"Hey, Donald," Sora waved Donald over. "What's this?" Sora pointed to the radar screen in front of him. There was a large object approaching.

"Something I don't think we want to face," Donald said. "Goofy, see if you can maneuver us away from it."

"Gotcha Donald," Goofy said as he started to steer the ship away from the large object but when they turned the object followed them. A large figure suddenly flew over them and shook the ship.

"What was that?" Sora asked. The figure made another pass and it turned out to be an incredibly large whale!

"It's a whale!" Goofy shouted.

"That's Monstro!" Jiminy jumped up to them. "He's a whale of a whale!" As Jiminy said this Monstro made another pass and swallowed the Gummi Ship whole.

"Knock it off!" Sora heard Donald yell as he shook himself awake. Sora stood and saw Donald and Goofy both under Goofy's shield. A large item fell from above and smacked into the shield.

"What's going on?" Sora asked.

"It's raining Gummi Blocks," Goofy laughed.

"Who's doing that?" Donald yelled up. A small figure appeared from one of the large wooden platforms that surrounded the inside of the whale.

"Hey guys," the figure said.

"Oh it's just Pinocchio," Donald said. "Pinocchio?" As Donald said this Pinocchio jumped down with a Gummi Block in his hands.

"I found the whale!" Pinocchio said in excitement.

"Looks like we did too," Sora looked around. How did wooden platforms set up inside of a whale?

"Guess who else I found?" Pinocchio jumped around. "I found my dad!"

"Geppetto's here?" Jiminy suddenly jumped on to Sora's shoulder.

"Yeah, he's right over here. Come on!" Pinocchio jumped down from his platform to the one below it and jumped across them until he got to a large ship.

"Ah, Pinocchio. You're back," Geppetto said. "Who might you be?"

"I'm Sora and this is Donald and Goofy," Sora introduced to the old man.

"You must have gotten swallowed by this whale as well," Geppetto said. "How did this happen to you? And how do you know Pinocchio?"

"Well, it's quite a story so far," Sora sat down and started to explain.

"Don't you fool around," Maleficent told Riku in the darkened room where she observed everything. "Not like last time."

"I got the princess didn't I?" Riku asked before he went to set off.

"Just remember that the Keybearer is now your sworn enemy," Maleficent put her arm around Riku but he shrugged it off.

"I deserve the Keyblade," Riku said with determination. "I will stop at nothing to retrieve it. I will be the Keybearer."

"You know what?" Maleficent asked. "There are two legends. One says the Keybearer will be a great hero and save the many worlds and the other says that the Keybearer shall bring chaos and destruction. Which will you choose?"

"Whatever is necessary," Riku said. "I'm going." Riku turned from her and started walking away. He would be at Monstro soon. He would confront Sora. His eyes were set on the ultimate prize. The Keyblade.

"Oh, Riku," Maleficent stopped him. "I found something for you." Maleficent said. She waved her hand and an image of Kairi appeared. She appeared lifeless almost like a Heartless had attacked her and won.

"Kairi!" Riku shouted. "Where is she?"

"You can go to her when you return," Maleficent said.

"Fine!" Riku screamed at her and stormed out.

"I see," Geppetto said as Sora finished the story. "I do hope Pinocchio has been a good boy." Pinocchio grinned but soon grew bored as the older people talked. He turned to see a figure run deeper into Monstro. He smiled and followed.

"Hey, where's Pinocchio?" Goofy asked as he realized the puppet was gone.

"Pinocchio!" Geppetto jumped. "Where are you?"

"Don't worry. We'll find him," Sora said as he set off with Donald and Goofy. Jiminy followed.

"Pinocchio!" Sora shouted the puppet's name. "Come on Pinocchio, where'd you go?" He continued to yell.

"I'm right here!" Pinocchio jumped into view.

"Well come on, this is no time for games," Sora said as he turned to get back to Geppetto when a familiar voice filled his ears.

"But Sora, I thought you like games," Riku laughed.

"Riku? How did you get here? Did you find Kairi?" Sora started asking questions.

"Maybe. Find us, and maybe I'll tell you," Riku grabbed Pinocchio's hand and ran even deeper into the giant whale.

"Riku!" Sora yelled.

"Something's wrong with this picture," Donald said as they started to run after him. A punch suddenly knocked Sora back into Donald and Goofy. They looked up to see what appeared to be a ghost.

"A Search Ghost," Sora scanned this new type of Heartless. Sora summoned the Three Wishes and swiped at the Search Ghost but as it hit, it never sharpened! Sora stared at the blade as Goofy jumped into attack. Just before Goofy hit it the Ghost disappeared and Goofy ran into the wall.

Sora continued to stare at the Keyblade. He focused on the tip and watched as it sharpened. He stopped focusing and it when down again. That was it. He could now control when to sharpen the Keyblade! He sharpened the Three Wishes and twirled around as the Search Ghost reappeared and sliced right through it.

Several Shadows and two more Search Ghosts appeared. Sora, Donald, and Goofy got into a battle stance.

Out of the five villains that stood in Maleficent's dark room before, three remained. Hades was currently in his world, thinking of ideas and Jafar had been the first to fall to the Keybearer.

"Let that remind everyone," Maleficent walked up to them. "The Keybearer is very dangerous and Jafar did not believe this. See the results?"

"Of course," One of the figures laughed. "He's dead."

"Yes. Do you know why?" Maleficent slammed her hand on the image of Donald and Goofy on a nearby table. "His friends!" She slammed her hands on images of Leon, Yuffie, Aerith, and Cid. "His fellow warriors!" She slammed her hand on the final image of Cloud. "And that fool Cloud Strife!"

"Don't worry," a cold voice came from the back of the room. "I told you I would take Strife out of the equation." Sephiroth stepped up to them. "Then I shall take care of the Keybearer as well."

"What makes you think you're strong enough?" one of the figures asked and the others nodded in agreement. Sephiroth smiled with one of his creepy smiles and held up his hand. Each of the three suddenly dropped to their knees and held their throats as if someone was chocking them.

"That does," Sephiroth chuckled and released them. "Soon Strife and the Keybearer will realize that I am the most powerful warrior to ever live." Sephiroth turned and walked out of the door and walked away. Behind the door another form sat undetected by anyone in the room.

"We'll see Sephiroth," Cloud said as he walked away from the room and used his power to open a portal to Traverse Town.

Sora and the others continued through Monstro until they finally met up with Riku and Pinocchio.

"No more games Riku," Sora said.

"What are you doing this for Sora?" Riku asked. "We could work together! Together we could do anything!"

"I said no mo…" a crash filled their ears as a large creature landed in front of them. It opened up its mouth and pulled Pinocchio in.

"No!" Riku yelled as he pulled out the sword he had used at Traverse Town. It was called the Soul Eater.

"The Parasite Cage," Sora said. The Parasite Cage was mostly a large purple head with a big mouth and a smaller head on top of that. Two tentacles came from its sides.

"You ready Sora?" Riku asked.

"Let's do it," Sora looked back to him. Sora and Riku ran at the Parasite Cage and nodded at each other. They split and each took a side. Donald and Goofy took the front and the back and they soon had the cage surrounded on all sides. A tentacle shot out and pinned Sora to the wall. Another went for Riku but Riku flipped out of the way and stabbed the tentacle as it passed.

"Fira!" Donald launched the second level spell at the smaller head of the Cage and watch as the Cage was knocked back and let Sora go. As the Cage was falling back Goofy jumped up and slammed his shield into the back of its head. The mouth of the Cage opened and Pinocchio jumped out into Goofy's arms.

Sora quickly leveled his Three Wishes at the Cage and magic swirled around him as he called on one of his summons.

"Summon!" Sora jumped into the air as blasts of blue magic came from the tip of the Three Wishes. "Genie!" The familiar call of Genie filled their ears as he came into view. Genie powered up a large blast.

"This may leave a mark!" Genie shouted and fired the blast. The Cage was shot back as Genie hit it with dead aim. Quickly realizing it was outmatched with all four warriors the Parasite Cage disappeared by a newly formed hole on the floor.

"Watch out!" Riku yelled as one of the tentacles jumped out of the hole and grabbed Pinocchio from Goofy's arms. Riku jumped after them. After Genie went back into the Three Wishes the others followed.

Cloud walked through Traverse Town and many people stopped and pointed at him and whispered things. He walked up to Cid's shop and opened the doors. Inside were Leon, Yuffie, and Cid.

"Cloud!" Cid jumped up and his cigarette he had fell from his mouth. "You're alive! I don't believe it! What about the others? Barret? Vincent? Red XIII? Tifa? Cait Sith?" Cid asked the names of their many friends.

"No. Sorry," Cloud shook his head. "Is Aerith here?"

"Not right now," Yuffie said. "But I could go get her."

"No," Cloud stopped her. "Perhaps it's best she's not here."

"I feel out of the loop here," Leon said.

"It's a long story," Yuffie said. "I'll tell you some other time."

"I came here to ask you something Leon," Cloud said. "I want you to fight me."

"Fight you?" Leon asked. "What for?"

"I just need to see something. Let's go," Cloud said and Leon followed. They both stood out in front of the shop where Leon had battled Sora. Cloud leaped forward and pulled out the Buster Sword in one quick motion. Leon pulled out the Gunblade and blocked the strike with one hand. Cloud smiled at this.

"Surprised?" Leon asked.

"Actually yes," Cloud laughed. "But this means I get to use more of my true strength!" Cloud pushed the Buster Sword forward and almost made it through to Leon but Leon jumped back and ran forward with his own attack. Cloud blocked his strike and spun around to try and catch him on his unprotected side.

"Don't think so!" Leon was able to block this quickly. He fired a blast of magic but Cloud deflected it. Leon and Cloud crossed swords again and started pushing against each other. Cloud was the first to break away and shot some lightning at Leon, forcing him to move to the left. Cloud leaped at him.

Cloud swiped with the Buster Sword but Leon rolled underneath and was quickly back on his feet. Both of them put a great deal of strength into their next blow and they were knocked hard backwards. The large black wing extended from Cloud's back and he flew into the air. Leon watched for a second but then made a great leap onto the roof of Cid's Shop and then to a higher roof nearby.

Cloud was surprised by Leon's agility and was unable to block Leon's quick strike to his stomach. Cloud healed himself and flew at Leon as fast as he could. Cloud gathered as much strength possible and then swung the Buster Sword. Leon brought up the Gunblade to block. Cloud's strike, however, was much too strong. The force of the attack sent Leon off the roof and he slammed hard onto the ground three stories below.

"That would be it then," Cloud floated down and let the wing go back inside him. He turned his back and his eyes shot open wide as the Gunblade was shoved through his side with great force. Cloud hit the ground and turned to see Leon with the bloody Gunblade in his right hand and his left arm hanging limply at his side.

"Squall!" Yuffie shouted and ran to Leon's side. She helped him up a little and used a healing spell on him. Leon muttered a thank you but was still feeling the after effects of the fight.

"Congratulations," Cloud chuckled as he stood up. "You have exceeded all of my expectations." He put his hand on his side and healed himself.

"What was all this about?" Cid walked up to them. "I won't get any business if you morons don't stop scaring them away!" Cloud had to laugh. Same old Cid.

"I need to ask you two a favor," Cloud gestured to Leon and Yuffie. "I was hoping you would fight Sora, Donald, and Goofy in the next Coliseum tournament. It would be good if we could see just how strong they've grown so far."

"Oh, I get it," Leon nodded. "You want to make sure that they're strong enough to face what is ahead of them."

"Yes. We'll talk further after the tournament," Then, without another word, Cloud was gone.

"Pinocchio!" Geppetto yelled as Sora, Donald, and Goofy landed after coming through the hole. Sora looked up to see Riku on one of the platforms with an unconscious Pinocchio in his arms.

"What are you doing Riku?" Sora shouted.

"Please let my Pinocchio go! He's my special boy!" Geppetto pleaded.

"A puppet who has a heart is rather special," Riku said. "Maybe he can help someone who's lost theirs."

"Riku. Do you mean…" Sora started.

"Don't worry about this Sora!" Riku screamed at him. "If you want this little puppet so bad then come and get him!" Riku ran off into Monstro.

"Riku," Sora shook his head. "I'll get you!" Sora ran off after his old friend and Donald and Goofy tried to keep up.

Sora caught up with Riku and Pinocchio in an upper area of Monstro. Donald and Goofy ran up behind him with weapons drawn.

"Let Pinocchio go Riku!" Sora yelled.

"I'll ask you one more time Sora, join me," Riku held out his hand.

"No."

"So this little puppet means more to you then your friends."

"You're not the Riku I used to know. At least Pinocchio has something you don't, a conscience. You may not hear it now but it's loud and clear," as Sora said this Jiminy ran up to Pinocchio who was lying on the ground.

"You okay kid?" Jiminy asked.

"Jiminy, I'm not going to make it," Pinocchio groaned. He nose suddenly grew. "Oh! I guess I'm okay!" A crash disrupted them as the Parasite Cage suddenly reappeared in front of them. Jiminy and Pinocchio ran back to Gepetto and Riku shook his head as he left. Now Sora, Donald, and Goofy were left.

"Let's do it!" Sora yelled as he felt energized as the anger of Riku's betrayal starting flowing through him. Sora ran forward and sharpened the Three Wishes as he slashed up at the Parasite Cage. The Cage used one of its tentacles to knock Sora away from it. Sora slowly got back up as he started to loose the adrenaline rush.

"Thunder!" Donald yelled and watched as the electric energy coursed through the Cage. The Cage quickly shook it off and slammed a tentacle into Donald. Goofy ran forward and slammed into the Cage with his shield.

"Tornado!" Goofy spun around many times and caught the Cage each time. Sora came back into the fray and sliced into one of the tentacles. The Cage screamed in anger and with new vigor smashed Sora into the wall of Monstro with pure force. When Sora fell he landed in a pool of water and when the water that splashed up hit the Cage it screamed in pain and wrenched back.

"Water hurts it?" Sora asked in disbelief. "I don't have a water spell!" As Sora said this he saw a small stone in the water. It was blue and had a water symbol in the middle. It was a Summon Gem!

"Blizzara!" Donald fired the second level spell and froze one of the tentacles. Goofy came in as if from nowhere and crashed through it, sending pieces of the tentacle all over the place.

"Summon!" they heard Sora yell. "Dumbo!" A small elephant about the size of Sora appeared. It had amazing large ears and a circus type hat. Sora smiled and jumped on Dumbo. Dumbo aimed his trunk at the Cage. "Splash!" Sora shouted and a large gush of water came forth. The Parasite Cage reeled back in response and its mouth was left open for attack.

"Rocket!" Goofy yelled as he magic launched him straight into the mouth of the Cage and the creature was dead. Monstro started rumbling as the whale had finally had enough of what was going on inside of him. Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran back to the Gummi Ship and strapped themselves in. Monstro finally coughed them up and started floating back into space.

"I hope Pinocchio and Geppetto are okay," Goofy said.

"Don't worry, they're fine," Jiminy's voice cut in. They all jumped as the cricket joined them. "I got on the ship while Pinocchio and Geppetto escaped. I think they were headed for Traverse Town."

"We should go check real quick," Sora said. Donald nodded and set the course. Still fresh in Sora's mind was something he never thought would happen. His best friend had betrayed him. Riku had betrayed him.

Riku ended up back in Maleficent's room with the other villains. Maleficent seemed rather mad at him.

"You let him escape!" Maleficent yelled. "Do you still want to help the boy? Are to soft about him to finish the job!"

"I don't care about him anymore!" Riku yelled. "I care about three things! Kairi, the Keyblade, and myself! You said I could go to Kairi when I returned!"

"Of course. I shall keep to my agreement. Hook, take him," Maleficent said. One of the figures in the room stepped into the light. It was the evil of Neverland, Captain Hook himself.

"I warn you, this will be no pleasure cruise!" Hook said. He motioned for Riku to follow him and they set off for Neverland.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked into Traverse Town. As they started toward the Third District, seeing as Sora wanted to speak with Merlin, Sora noticed a new shop near Cid's with a sign that said "Geppetto's Puppets." They ran up to the building and knocked on the door.

"Welcome!" Pinocchio said as he opened the door. "Sora! Donald! Goofy!" Pinocchio yelled and he motioned for them to come in.

"Well hello my friends," Geppetto said as he stood up from the table where he was working on a new puppet.

"It's good to see you guys are okay," Donald said.

"Yes, and I want all three of you to know that you are welcome anytime!" Geppetto told them.

"Thanks Geppetto," Goofy laughed.

"Well, we have to get going," Sora said. The said their goodbyes and left to get to Merlin's.

"Come in," Sora heard Merlin say before he even had a chance to knock on the door. Merlin and the Fairy Godmother were sitting at the table drinking tea. "You wish to know about your magic don't you?"

"Yes," Sora said as he walked up to them. "I was wondering about this second level of magic. What is it exactly?"

"Well, every type of spell has a stronger level beyond that. It is just the way magic works and it was very rare to happen to you at such a young age," Merlin said. "In fact, I want to give you something. I would have given it to you last time but it completely slipped my mind."

"Slipped your mind?" Goofy asked. "How does anything slip your mind?"

"I am not as young as I used to be," Merlin said with a smile. "Ah! Here it is." Merlin put something in Sora's hand. A Keychain. Sora took of the Three Wishes and attached the new one. It was a dark blue color and the key part was three circles that floated an inch from the top of the blade like magic. Sora suddenly felt his magic strengthen by the new Keyblade form.

"I'll call it the Spellbinder," Sora said as he slipped the Three Wishes into his pocket with his other two.

"Well move along now," Fairy Godmother said. "You still have much to do!"

"Right!" All three of them said.

After a long rest the three of them got back into the Gummi Ship and got ready to go to the next world when Phil's voice came in.

"You there guys?" Phil asked.

"Yeah, we're here," Sora said.

"There's a new tournament going on. It's called the Pegasus Tournament. You guys can make it, right?"

"Of course!" Goofy said.

"Great! See you in a few!" Phil said and they charted a course for the Coliseum.


	11. Olympus Coliseum Pegasus Cup

Chapter 10

Olympus Coliseum: Pegasus Cup

Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked into the Coliseum just as the Pegasus Cup was about to start.

"Hey! Just in time!" Hercules said as he saw them. "Phil! They made it!"

"Where were you guys?" Phil yelled. "Never mind that! You are in the first match! Go, go, go!" Sora, Donald, and Goofy stepped into the ring as their opponents appeared. There were two Search Ghosts and a Bandit. Plus three of a new type of Heartless called an Air Soldier.

The two groups jumped at each other and started to fight.

Atop the Coliseum sat two dark presences, Hades and Sephiroth. They watched the Keybearer closely.

"So when do you plan on fighting that little twerp?" Hades asked.

"When he proves himself worthy," Sephiroth replied.

"Oh, and when's that?"

"When he defeats you."

"He will not defeat me!" Hades' fire consumed him and turned red as he shouted. He was tired of these big shots talking to him like this. "I will destroy the Keybearer when I am ready and you won't have to face him!"

"Good, save me some time," Sephiroth said as he turned to fly away. "Just be sure you don't get Cloud Strife angry. I really don't want to waste my time saving you again."

"I'll show you!" Hades said as Sephiroth said. "One day I will kill all of them! No one will be able to stop me!"

Sora slid to the ground to avoid another strike from one of the Air Soldiers. Donald was busy with the Bandit and Goofy was trying to strike the continually disappearing Search Ghosts.

"Tornado!" Goofy yelled and started spinning. The Search Ghosts were caught in the attack and finally killed. Donald blocked another strike from the Bandit's sword and jumped back as it attacked again.

Sora jumped over a low strike from an Air Bandit as it attacked again. He pointed the Spellbinder at all three of them.

"Gravity!" he yelled and they were all pushed into the ground by the dark magic and they were killed.

Donald charged his staff with electricity and as the Bandit's sword hit the jolt traveled from Donald's staff into the Bandit. Donald finished it off with a Fira. As they celebrated Sora noticed for the first time that Leon and Yuffie were not in the audience.

Cloud walked around the outside of the Coliseum as he arrived back in the world. His search for Sephiroth had taken a turn when he had lost his nemesis' trail. Cloud felt Sephiroth's energy in the air but it felt as if it was gone.

"Hey Cloud," Leon said as he walked up to him. "Didn't you say you wanted to talk to me about something."

"I did say after the tournament but why not now?" Cloud said. "I think I may need your help tracking Sephiroth."

"Sephiroth?" Leon asked.

"No!" Yuffie's voice cut in. "He isn't alive! You killed him Cloud!"

"No, he's still very much alive."

"That's impossible!" Yuffie dropped to her knees and tears welled up and she was shaking. Leon had never seen her like this. He had never seen her scared.

From behind a pillar Sephiroth hid his energy so not even Cloud could track him. He smirked at the sight of Yuffie.

"Yes little ninja," he said. "You need to be frightened. I could kill you in an instant and you know it." Sephiroth created a portal before him and left that world.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy had finished off another set of opponents and it was getting much easier. Especially with Sora's magic enhanced by the Spellbinder. However, the next match would not be easy.

In a little while they would have to face three Fat Bandits and two Large Body's. Would they even fit in the ring?

"Hey Sora," Leon said as he walked up to them.

"Leon! Why aren't you in the stands?" he asked.

"Didn't Phil tell you? I'm competing. Yuffie and I have already qualified for the finals and if you win your next match you will too."

"You and Yuffie?" Sora asked. This tournament seemed more and more impossible by the minute.

Hercules sat outside the Coliseum on the stone steps as Cloud walked up to him and sat next to him.

"You seem to be in deep thought," Cloud said.

"Yes, I am," Hercules mumbled.

"What is it?"

"I have this feeling that something is going to happen. Something very bad."

"Then something probably will. I've learned to listen to these feelings and to trust them. Whatever it is you're feeling may have to do with Hades. Maybe even Sephiroth. But you must learn to trust your feelings as I have."

"I guess I should. But this feeling isn't that something bad is going to happen to me, it's something bad is going to happen to Sora."

"Sora is the Keybearer. Bad things are destined to happen to him and there is no one who can prevent that," Cloud stood up and walked into the Coliseum to leave Hercules to his thoughts. The finals of this tournament would be quite entertaining.

Sora swallowed hard as he stepped into the ring. Before him appeared the three Fat Bandits and the two Large Bodies. Sure enough there was barely any room to move around at all.

"Begin!" Phil shouted. Sora quickly moved forward. He jumped up and grabbed one of the Large Bodies by the head, using it to spin around so he was facing its back. Before Sora could lunge the Spellbinder into its back a blast of fire from a Fat Bandit knocked him away.

"Blizarra!" Donald fired at the Fat Bandit and canceled out its fire. Goofy ran up as fast as he could and with all of his strength was able to hit a Large Body hard enough to knock it to the ground. However the Large Body continued to roll and was soon on its feet once again.

Sora ran at the Fat Bandit that had hit him with the fire and slashed at him. The Fat Bandit used his fire to create some kind of shield and Sora's attack had no effect. Sora, Donald, and Goofy quickly regrouped.

"Aero!" Sora and Donald both used with Sora casting the spell on Goofy as well. Sora ran straight at a Fat Bandit as fast as he could. The Fat Bandit breathed a blast of fire but with his Aero shield Sora ran right through it. Sora spun himself around the Fat Bandit so he was facing its back and slammed the Spellbinder into the Fat Bandit as far as it would go, one down and four to go.

Goofy quickly ran at an opposing Large Body and used his superior agility to dodge and attack that was thrown at him. The Large Body recklessly charged at him and Goofy was able to sidestep it again.

"Charge!" Goofy yelled and with his magic he sped himself up and ran straight through the Large Body. Three to go.

Donald stared down one of the remaining Fat Bandits. The Fat Bandit blew some fire but the Aero knocked it away. The Fat Bandit quickly ran forward and swung a punch. Even though Aero had slowed the punch down it was still rather effective and Donald was thrown across the ring. The Fat Bandit ran at him and jumped into the air, fully intending to squash Donald.

"Stop!" Donald yelled and pointed his staff at the Fat Bandit in midair. To his surprise a shadowy clock suddenly appeared in the air and the Fat Bandit hit it, instantly stopping right in the air. Donald laughed and pointed his staff right in the Fat Bandit's face and a Fira destroyed it. Two.

Sora and Goofy were having trouble with the remaining Large Body as it continually tried to run them down. The last Fat Bandit joined in the fun with his friend and Sora and Goofy were left trying to run away and now Donald had to dodge as well. Sora pointed the Spellbinder at the two giant Heartless.

"Summon!" great energy rushed through him again. "Simba!" The majestic lion came to his side once again. Sora transferred his energy into Simba and this time so did Donald and Goofy did as well. The two Heartless suddenly realized what was going on and ran forward. "Proud Roar!"

Simba unleashed the powerful blast on energy with his mighty roar and the two Heartless were instantly destroyed. Sora laughed as he fell to the ground. Maybe this wasn't so impossible after all.

Phil allowed Sora, Donald, and Goofy time to rest before the finals and they were soon fully energized once again.

"Now for the finals!" Phil yelled in excitement and the crowd roared with approval. Sora stood out of view, waiting for his introduction. "First, the challengers for the championship! Leon and Yuffie!" The two warriors stepped into the ring as the crowd cheered them on.

"Now, for our returning champions! Sora, Donald, and Goofy!" Phil shouted and the three of them walked out. Sora saw various signs with their names on them. Even some "I Love You Goofy" signs and a "Marry Me Sora" sign. A certain corner of the crowd had on Donald costumes. This was getting ridiculous.

Sora stepped into the ring and suddenly the crowd seemed to disappear as he and Leon locked eyes on each other. They never really finished that fight in front of Cid's shop had they?

"Begin!" As soon as Phil said that Sora and Leon were suddenly in the middle of the ring with swords crossed faster then anyone could see. Well, almost anyone.

Cloud sat in the stands and watched closely. The outcome of this fight was very important. If Sora and his friends won there might be a chance for the worlds. If not then all was lost.

"Hello my friend," the familiar cold voice filled his ears. Sephiroth calmly walked into the stands and sat next to Cloud.

"What are you doing here?" Cloud spat out at him.

"I am enjoying a fine match," Sephiroth smirked and turned to watch the match. Cloud did the same but neither took their eyes of the other.

Yuffie fired another ninja star at Goofy and he was able to deflect it with his shield. Donald ran up to her and used Fira but she avoided it. Yuffie was not as strong as some of the others but she was very agile and hard to catch.

Sora and Leon continued to duel in the center of the ring. Leon swiped at Sora's stomach and Sora was able to block. The Gunblade met the Keyblade as sparks flew from them with each clash. Sora soon gained a slight advantage and he was able to push Leon back a little.

Yuffie did several back flips to dodge Goofy's attack. Donald was suddenly right next to her and used a Thunder that knocked her across the ring. As Yuffie got up she threw two ninja stars. Goofy blocked the one thrown at him but Donald wasn't so lucky as it cut the side of his arm.

"Cure!" he quickly shouted and he was healed. Even though he was healed using Cure took more energy than other magic and couldn't rely on it to heavily. Yuffie came up from nowhere and punched him across the face and then she spun around and caught Goofy with a spinning kick.

"Sonic Blade!" Sora yelled and rushed past Leon, cutting into his side. Leon's eyes went wide as he felt the pain and he almost dropped to the ground but he had felt worse. Like a true warrior Leon showed no more signs of pain and quickly struck back against Sora. Sora did not want this to become a match of strength since Leon was undoubtedly stronger than him. He could not let that happen.

Cloud watched as Sora switched from a style that used mostly strength to a style of using speed. Smart since Leon was actually slower than Sora. Not by much by he was still slower and that gave the Keybearer the advantage.

"Are you enjoying the show?" Sephiroth asked. "I personally did not expect the child to do so well but he is fairing very well, don't you think?"

"Yeah, sure," Cloud tried very hard not to speak with his nemesis like it was a conversation between some warrior buddies.

"I am rooting for the child now I think," Sephiroth said. "I may enjoy destruction very much but I love the occasional battle between two such equally matched warriors. Much like our battle was."

"Our next battle will be our last," Cloud vowed.

"Come now my friend," Sephiroth chuckled. "That is the future. You are looking to far ahead of yourself. Remember what I once told you? The leader that looks to far ahead will trip over his own feet."

"Yes, I remember. One of the only good pieces of advice you ever gave me."

"Maybe but that also means that you must focus on the present. Now forget our troubles and enjoy the match as I am."

"Fine," Cloud turned back to the fight and tried to ignore Sephiroth.

Sora staggered back as Leon had connected with a powerful blow but Sora refused to fall at this point. He fought back with a swipe at Leon's leg but Leon jumped out of the way. Leon fired a blast of magical energy from his Gunblade and it hit Sora making him fly back and slam into the ground. Here came that impossible feeling again.

Yuffie was dancing around the wizard and the knight with great agility and Donald and Goofy were finding it hard to keep up. They barely got any hits off and with a double kick they were both knocked back and landed next to Sora.

"Switch opponents," Sora whispered as they used Cure to heal themselves and Donald cured Goofy. Donald and Goofy jumped at Leon and Sora ran at Yuffie. This surprised the other two long enough for one good attack.

"Fira!" Donald fired off and hit Leon in the stomach and launched him into the air.

"Rocket!" Goofy threw himself into the air and hit Leon as he was falling. Leon hit the ground and didn't move.

"Strike Raid!" Sora launched his new attack. The Spellbinder launched very quickly and spun many times. Blue energy circled it as it struck Yuffie and she was thrown not only into the air but she crashed into the stands. The Spellbinder kept spinning and it changed course and returned to Sora's hand like a boomerang.

"The winners!" Phil yelled as Sora, Donald, and Goofy cheered for themselves.

"Wait!" Leon yelled as he suddenly got back up. "It's not over!" Leon held his Gunblade straight up and it glowed with blue energy. The blade suddenly extended until it was as large as Cloud's Buster Sword.

"A shocking twist!" Sephiroth laughed from the stands. Cloud ignored him and stared on with great interest.

Leon charged forward with his extended blade and smashed it into Goofy. The knight was sent flying and crashed into some seats next to Yuffie.

"It will cost so much to fix this!" Phil whined as the fight continued. Donald tried his Stop spell but Leon was to strong for it and it didn't work. Leon fired a powerful blast of energy and Donald hit the coliseum wall so hard he made an indent. Now it was just Leon and Sora. Sora stared up at Leon and Leon was surprised at what he saw. Sora was completely rejuvenated!

"No wonder it was so easy to beat Donald and Goofy!" Leon yelled. "They gave their remaining energy to you when I wasn't paying attention!"

"Sorry Leon!" Sora yelled. "Now it really is over!" Sora said as he launched another Strike Raid much more powerful than the one before it. As Leon was hit he was instantly knocked out and Sora had truly won.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy had already left and Yuffie had returned to Traverse Town as Leon stood outside the coliseum and leaned against the wall. Cloud soon walked out to him.

"Well?" Leon asked.

"Sephiroth is gone," Cloud said with a sigh. "He must have slipped away when I was paying close attention to the match."

"I guess we'll just have to find him," Leon said. Cloud nodded.

"I don't think we should team up just yet," Cloud said. "You head on back to Traverse Town and I'll contact you when it's time. I think we could both use a little more training."

"Good idea," Leon said. The two shook hands and turned from each other and walked away.


	12. Atlantica

Chapter 11

Atlantica

As Sora, Donald, and Goofy flew near the next world they noticed one thing. The entire world was covered by water.

"We can't land there, we'll drown," Sora said.

"Leave that to Donald's magic," Goofy said.

"They don't call me a wizard for nothing," Donald smirked. As they landed on the watery planet he used a spell.

Sora examined himself. He had now become a merman and was easily able to breath under water. Goofy was a large sea turtle and Donald's bottom half was that of an octopus.

"Run Sebastian!" Sora heard a voice from up ahead. He saw a redheaded mermaid quickly swimming their way. Behind her was a yellow fish and what appeared to be a crab.

"What's wrong?" Sora asked. His question was answered when a large jellyfish with the Heartless symbol on it swam up to them. "A Sea Neon."

Goofy swam forward at a high speed and his shield appeared on the back of his shell and he slammed it into the Sea Neon and it was destroyed. Several more Sea Neons appeared before them. Sora summoned the Spellbinder to his side and swam forward, cutting down two of them in quick succession. Donald blasted one with a Blizarra and it was destroyed. Goofy killed the rest with a Tornado.

"Wow, that was impressive!" the mermaid said as she swam back to them. "My name is Ariel and these are my friends Flounder and Sebastian."

"I'm Sora and this is Donald and Goofy," he said.

"These creatures keep appearing," Ariel said. "The only place they don't appear would be my father's castle. I think we should go there."

"Good idea," Sora said as Ariel led the way back to the castle.

As Sora and the others swam toward the castle another type of underwater Heartless appeared. This one was like a green diver with a spear in its hand. It was a Screwdiver. Sora and a Screwdiver hit Keyblade against spear and Sora quickly pushed through the weaker Heartless.

Hundreds of Heartless seemed to be appearing. The Heartless of this world wasn't very strong but they were relentless and strong in numbers. They swam as fast as they could toward the castle. As they finally entered it a few Heartless still followed them. A blast of lightning came from the front of the room and killed them all.

"That was a close one," came a deep voice. Sora looked up to see a wise looking merman sitting on a throne. In his hand was a golden trident. "I will not allow vermin like that in my castle."

"Sora, this is my father, King Triton," Ariel introduced.

"Hello sir," Sora said and bowed with respect.

"I have never seen you before," King Triton examined him.

"We come from an ocean very far away," Sora answered. It was kind of the truth anyway.

"Ariel!" Triton turned to his daughter. "I thought I told you not to leave the castle grounds!"

"I know daddy but I…"

"No buts! I want you to return to your grotto and do not leave there until I say so! Is that clear?" Triton spoke with an amazing authority in his voice.

"Yes daddy," Ariel said while her head was down. She slowly turned to swim away and motioned for Sora and them to follow. When they were out of sight Triton turned to Sebastian.

"You don't think I was too hard on her do you Sebastian?" Triton said. "Being a king is easy but a father is a whole other story."

"You did what you must sire," Sebastian said.

"I guess," Triton said as he sighed. "So what is the word on these things that are all over the place?"

"Just as you expected sire! They are coming from Ursula's grotto!" Sebastian yelled and knocked the side of the throne with his claw.

"I knew it!" Triton roared. "I see that exile from the kingdom has taught her nothing! I will have to have a talk with her!"

"Over here!" Ariel said as she pulled a rock away to reveal a tall circular room filled with various things that one would find on land.

"Nice place," Goofy said.

"Thanks," Ariel gazed around. "Sometimes I just wish that I could leave this ocean and just explore new worlds!"

"I used to dream that too," Sora said.

"Used too?" Ariel asked.

"I mean I still do," Sora said quickly.

"Well I say we go see what's out there! I say we go explore!" Ariel said.

"Are you crazy?" Donald yelled. "Out there we are greatly outnumbered and your father told you strictly stay here!"

"My father always tells me that!" Ariel shouted. "He just doesn't understand! He doesn't understand anything!"

"I say we go!" Sora said. He understood when he had a need to explore like he had back on Destiny Islands. How he had wanted to leave that place and explore what was really out there.

"It's settled then!" Ariel said as she swam off and Sora and Goofy followed.

"They're all crazy!" Donald yelled as he tried to catch up.

They had all ended up outside of a sunken ship. They went into the ship quietly as not to disturb nearby fish. Inside they found a wonderful looking Crystal Trident. It was only the top part of a trident but it sparkled with magnificence.

"This is amazing!" Ariel said as she examined it.

"Wait," Sora said as he looked around. "What is that noise?"

"What noise?" Ariel asked and as soon as the words left her mouth a part of the ship seemed to explode. A large shark had crashed through in an attempt to attack them but could not fit into the ship.

"Stay here!" Goofy yelled as the three of them swam out to face it and Ariel stayed safely in the ship. Sora swiped at the beast but it spun around and Sora was hit it's massive tail and thrown against a wall.

Goofy went on the assault but the shark was too agile. Donald pointed his staff at the shark and fired a spell.

"Stop!" Donald cast his spell and the shark was frozen in place. Sora quickly swam up to it and jammed the Spellbinder into its side and it was dead.

Back in Ariel's room Sora held the Crystal Trident up to an impression in the wall that was shaped just like the crystal. It stayed in place and the Keyblade began to react to it. Sora summoned it and pointed it at the crystal.

A blast of lightning suddenly shattered the trident into many pieces and slowly drifted to the ground.

"Ariel!" came Triton's voice. "What did I tell you?"

"Daddy! I can…"

"No! You strictly disobeyed me! Now return to the castle and I will be there later!" Triton ordered.

"But daddy…"

"Now!" he yelled and she swam away. "As for you!" Triton turned on Sora. "You can leave now! There is no room in this ocean for you or your key!"

"How did you know?" Sora asked.

"I heard the legend! The Keybearer will shatter peace and bring ruin!"

"That doesn't sound like Sora," Goofy tried to defend him. Sora put his hand out to say that it was okay.

"We'll go," Sora said and they swam away.

"Are you insane?" Donald asked. "We still didn't seal the Keyhole to this world! We still need to be here!"

"We're not leaving the world entirely!" Sora shouted. "We'll just have to wait for something to happen and if I know my life so far that won't take to long."

Later that day Ariel sat in her room crying. She was now under Sebastian's supervision at all times by her father's orders.

"Poor girl," came a slithering voice from above. Two giant moray eels swam down to her. "I bet she could be of help." said one referring to someone.

"Yes, Ursula could help," said the other.

"Who?" Ariel asked. A great puff of black smoke appeared before her and a woman octopus appeared. This was Ursula the Sea Witch, one of the ones in Maleficent's dark room.

"My dear girl," she said. "I could help you explore the worlds like you really want to. It shouldn't be too hard. After all, your new friends are from another world."

"What?" Ariel asked.

"It's true," Ursula said. "I know all. And I can help."

Ursula held Triton's trident high into the air and laughed. It hadn't been to hard to trick Ariel into believing Ursula would need the trident's energy in order to grant her wish. Now Triton was very injured and Ursula had all the power.

"Ursula no!" Ariel screamed. "I didn't want this!"

"No!" Sora yelled as he swam in with Donald and Goofy behind him.

"Too late handsome!" Ursula laughed. Ursula waved the trident around and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Daddy!" Ariel yelled and hugged her father tight.

"You must go Keybearer," Triton coughed. "I am strong and will survive this but it is up to you to destroy Ursula."

"I thought you didn't trust me," Sora said.

"Things change," Triton smiled weakly. Sora nodded and Donald and Goofy started swimming off with him.

"Wait!" Ariel stopped them. "I'm coming as well!" Sora wanted to argue but knew she would follow anyway. He sighed and nodded and they swam off.

Ariel directed the three of them to Ursula's grotto. It was a large room with a large black cauldron in the center of the room. Ursula emerged from a large seashell in the back of the room.

"Flotsam! Jetsam!" she yelled and the two eels appeared. Sora swam forward with Spellbinder pointed toward Ursula. His attack was deflected when it hit an invisible shield.

"What the?" Sora yelled as he dodged a bolt of lightning from Ursula.

"My magic is way to strong for you fools!" Ursula shouted and fired another bolt. Donald used his Thunder and blocked it. Sora cast Aero on himself and Ariel to protect her. Flotsam sped up and whipped his tail into Sora's face and Sora was knocked back and hit the wall.

"Charge!" Goofy yelled and he was pushed through the water with his magic. He connected with Flotsam and the eel was knocked out. Ursula laughed and revived the eel with her magic.

"We are unbeatable with my powerful magic!" Ursula laughed. Sora swam under Jetsam and used Blizarra on Ursula but the attack was not strong enough to break the shield of magic she had. A bolt of lightning struck Sora and he was thrown to the floor and then bounced up into the wall.

"Try this!" Donald yelled and swam right up to her. While right in her face he cast Thunder and she was blown back even though her shield took most of the blow for her. Ursula fired back by tossing something into her cauldron.

"Wind! Here my command!" she yelled and a tornado appeared from the cauldron. It caught all three of them and they were all thrown against the wall. Sora painfully readied himself once again.

"Cure!" he yelled as he felt his health return. Ursula tossed another object into the cauldron and this time there was a blast of cold. Sora was able to dodge it but Jetsam rammed into him and sent him back down.

"This is very tough," Donald said as they got back up. They were all shaking from the beating they were getting and it was getting worse.

"I think I have an idea," Sora said. "But I need to make sure those eels won't disrupt me while I do this.

"That's my department!" Donald assured him.

"Goofy, I need you to go over then and block Ariel. I'm not sure what this will do exactly," Sora said. Goofy nodded and quickly swam over to Ariel, covering her with his shell and shield.

"Stop!" Donald cast on the two eels and they were stopped in their tracks.

"Fools!" Ursula yelled and tossed an object into the cauldron. The water in it turned yellow. "Lightning, I call…"

"Oh Ursula!" Sora shouted, getting Ursula's attention. "What would happen if I did this?" Sora stuck the tip of his Spellbinder into the cauldron and unleashed his own Thunder spell.

The cauldron backfired in a great explosion and Ursula was temporarily stunned. Sora took advantage of this and swam forward and jammed the Spellbinder into her side and then tore it out.

"No!" Ursula shouted as she hunched over in pain. She glanced up to see Flotsam and Jetsam coming back to her. She quickly grabbed them and turned them into magic energy and healed herself with it. She quickly swam off.

"Get back here!" Sora yelled and they all followed her. They got to a place that was just a lot of space.

"You pathetic fools! I rule the seas now!" Ursula yelled. Using the power of the trident she suddenly started growing until Sora was about the size of her ear.

"I've noticed something!" Sora told Goofy.

"What's that?"

"Everybody we fight seems to get bigger somehow!" Sora yelled as he dodged a swipe from Ursula. She opened her mouth and several magical orbs flew from within her. One flew right at Donald and connected, making him go flying back and out of sight.

"Strike Raid!" Sora shouted and tossed the Spellbinder with all his might. The attack hit but seemed to bounce off of her. Goofy swam up to Ursula and used Tornado but she swatted him away.

"I can not be defeated!" Ursula yelled and pointed the trident toward the sky. Large bolts of lightning starting coming down from the sky in random places.

"Does she ever shut up?" Sora asked Donald as they recovered from a few slight injuries so they could fight back. Goofy had to dodge a lightning bolt but spun right into another one and was knocked all the way to the ground. Sora swam forward as fast as he could but suddenly he found himself being pulled into her mouth!

"Sora! Swim Sora!" Ariel shouted in support. Sora tried to swim the other way but it was getting really hard. Donald thought back to when Merlin said that every type magic had another level.

"Hey Ursula!" Donald yelled and swam right up to her. His staff glowed with yellow magic energy. "Thundara!" Donald launched the incredible blast of electricity at Ursula at it found its target right in Ursula's open mouth.

"No!" Ursula screamed in pain as she became much smaller than before and then disappeared all together. All that was left was the trident floating freely in front of them. Ariel swam up and grabbed onto it.

"Let's go guys," she said. "We're done here."

"I congratulate you all on your outstanding victory!" Triton said as he waved his trident around proudly. "I believe this could be of some use to you." Triton pulled out a piece of paper and gave it to Sora. It was Ansem's Report 3!

"I also need to find that Keyhole sir," Sora said as he pocketed the report.

"Where is that Keyhole daddy?" Ariel asked.

"You should know Ariel. It's in your grotto," Triton laughed.

Ariel held the trident up to the impression in the wall where they had placed the Crystal Trident earlier. The impression turned into a Keyhole quickly. Sora held up the Spellbinder and locked the world.

"Sora, what's it like?" Ariel asked.

"What?" Sora asked.

"Traveling to so many different places and seeing so many different things?"

"I haven't really had any time to notice my surrounding very well with all the fighting I have to do but it is cool going to other worlds."

"Maybe I can do so one day."

"Maybe."

"I want you to have this," Ariel handed him an object. It was another Keychain. Sora removed the Spellbinder and placed the new one on there. The blade turned a lighter shade of blue and they key part turned into a crab sticking from the top.

"I'll call it the Crabclaw," Sora said as he let the Keyblade disappear.

"I'll see you again Sora," Ariel said.

"Maybe," Sora said again and he swam away. Time to get to the next world.


	13. Halloween Town

Chapter 12

Halloween Town

Sora, Donald, and Goofy landed in the next world. The world looked like it was Halloween and everything seemed to jump at you.

"I don't think we fit in here," Goofy said as he stared down at his bright clothes and the clothes of Sora and Donald.

"I can fix that!" Donald waved his staff and their outfits changed. Goofy now had darker clothes and the tip of his nose was a pumpkin. Donald was now all wrapped up like a mummy. Sora was very different. His clothes were now black and his gloves covered his now sharp tipped fingers. His smiled revealed two fangs and an odd shadow was cast over his eyes.

"Well, this is weird," Sora said as they stepped into town.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" they heard from ahead. They say they were in a circular area with doors that led to different places. The one speaking was ahead of them. He had a long, skinny top hat with a triangular face with a suit. He had a ribbon on his chest that said "Mayor."

"What an odd looking fellow," Goofy said.

"Put your hands together for the master of 'scaremonies.' Jack Skellington!" the Mayor shouted. An amazing tall and skinny man that appeared to be just a skeleton in a striped suit arose from a type of green liquid in front of them.

"No," Jack muttered to himself. "That's still not scary enough. We need something that will really get them. I'll go consult the doctor!" Jack walked way through a door on the far side of the area.

"Heartless!" Goofy yelled. Sure enough four Search Ghosts appeared before them. Sora prepared for an attack but it never came. Cautiously Sora stepped up to the non-moving Heartless and tapped one on the head.

"It's not moving," Sora said as he shook it but still nothing. "I say we go talk to that Jack guy."

"Yeah. He went through there," Donald pointed to the door. They all walked through it to see a set of stairs that went into a building.

"It's not complete!" Jack yelled to his friend Dr. Finkelstein. A motionless Heartless lay on a table. "I need the Heartless to dance with me!"

"Of course!" Dr. Finkelstein pressed forward on his wheelchair and got close to the Heartless. "The Heartless need a heart!"

"Yes! Of course," Jack said. "How do we get a heart?"

"We make one!" Dr. Finkelstein laughed and moved over to another table. "First you take a container." He pulled out a container shaped like a heart but there was a lock on it. "We need to find the key to this thing first!"

"Are you going to help them?" Donald asked Sora as they stood outside of the door to the lab and listened carefully.

"Yeah! Don't you want to see the Heartless dance?" Sora asked.

"Not really," Donald sighed.

"If this works we won't have to fight any Heartless here," Sora said and walked through the door.

"Who are you?" Dr. Finkelstein asked.

"I can help you," Sora said as he summoned the Crabclaw. "My key here can unlock anything." Sora pointed it at the heart and the lock snapped off.

"That was amazing!" Dr. Finkelstein clapped.

"Wow. Thanks," Jack said. "My name is Jack and this is Dr. Finkelstein."

"My name is Sora and this is Donald and Goofy."

"Thank you again Sora," Jack said as he turned back to the doctor.

"Now for ingredients!" Dr. Finkelstein shouted. "You will need courage!" The doctor pulled out a badge that looked like a lion. "Hope and despair!" A gold and black snake biting each other's tails. "Throw in a dash of fear!" A large black spider. "And you have a heart!"

"Now we must test it!" Jack used one of the doctors many machines to infuse the heart into the Heartless. But the machine backfired.

"Oh no! I forgot an ingredient!" Dr. Finkelstein yelled. "Ironically, it's memory! Now where is Sally? That silly girl better not have gotten herself into trouble."

"We'll find her doctor," Jack said. "Sora, would you accompany me?"

"Sure," Sora said as the four of them set out to find Sally.

"Zero!" Jack yelled into the air as they got outside. "Come here boy!" A ghost dog flew up to Jack and started barking. "Do you know where Sally is boy?" Zero barked and nodded and flew off. "Let's go guys!"

They ended up in a graveyard as Zero led them through it. Several Heartless appeared before them. A couple Shadows and a new type, they were about waist height and looked like mummies with sharp claws and long arms.

"Wight Knights!" Sora yelled. "So much for not facing any Heartless!" Sora summoned the Crabclaw. Sora ran forward and sliced through two of the Shadows but had to jump back as a Wight Knight swiped at him.

Jack showed amazing physical strength as he punched a Wight Knight into the air and then grabbed it and slammed it into the ground, killing it. Three Shadows jumped on Jack and started clawing at him. Jack grabbed two and smashed them into each other to kill them, then grabbed the last and tossed it into a gravestone.

Goofy blocked a strike from a Wight Knight with his shield. Another attacked his back so he placed the shield on his back and then slipped it back onto his arm and with a quick spin killed them both.

Donald ran forward and bashed a Heartless in the head with his staff and then twirled around and cast Fira on an approaching Wight Knight. A group of Wight Knights came jumping at him but a quick Thundara and they were killed.

Sora finished up the last Wight Knight by cutting its chest and then spinning around and tearing through it.

"Wow," came a voice from behind a tall gravestone. Out stepped a girl with gray skin and looked like she was sown together.

"Sally!" Jack said as he walked up to her. "Dr. Finkelstein says you have memory for him."

"Of course," Sally pulled out a Forget-Me-Not flower and handed it to them.

"Alright!" Donald cheered as he thought of not having to face anymore Heartless while they were there. As they walked out of the graveyard a lid from a coffin in the back opened up and three forms jumped out while saying their names.

"Lock!"

"Shock!"

"Barrel!" they all landed. Lock was a kid dressed like the devil, Shock was dressed like a witch, and Barrel was a skeleton.

"We know what to do now," Lock told them.

"Tell Oogie Boogie!" Shock and Barrel nodded. They laughed and set off.

"Yes! I can now complete it!" Dr. Finkelstein. "Now I add memory and some surprise just for fun." Dr. Finkelstein tossed in the flower and a jack in the box. They put it in place to test it again.

"Mine!" Lock jumped from nowhere and grabbed the heart. He ran back to the door where Shock and Barrel were waiting and the three of them ran off.

"Get them!" Dr. Finkelstein yelled. Jack, Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran off to try and catch them.

"I should have known," Jack said as they found the destination of Lock, Shock, and Barrel. A large manor on a hill separated from the town. "I knew Oogie Boogie was behind this. He's a scoundrel if you ever saw one."

"Let's go get them!" Goofy shouted in confidence and they started climbing up stairs to get to the top of the manor. When they got there they opened the top door to find Lock, Shock, and Barrel.

"Where's the heart?" Donald asked.

"Oogie Boogie has it!" Shock said quickly. They obviously did not want to face the four warriors.

"He made us do it!" Barrel cried.

"We didn't want to!" Lock joined him.

"Where is Oogie Boogie now?" Sora asked.

"He is in a door near the bottom of the manor. It is green," Lock said.

"Bottom!" Jack yelled. "I can't believe we came to the top. The villains room is usually always at the top!"

The four of them walked into the room with the green door. The room was a giant roulette machine in the center and the outside of the room was raised up.

"Well, well, well," Came Oogie's voice from ahead of them. He sat on the edge of the outside of the room. He was a large fat ghost that seemed to be made out of cloth. "I see you came for the heart." Oogie was the last villain from the room of Maleficent.

"Give us the heart now Oogie Boogie!" Jack demanded.

"I don't think so!" Oogie laughed and swallowed the heart in one gulp. "Now it's your time to die! Oh, Heartless!" He shouted into the air but only to Shadows appeared. He looked at them in shock.

"Apparently you don't have as much power as you think," Sora snickered.

"Nobody disrespects me!" Oogie shouted into the air. "Nobody!" A small explosion knocked the four heroes into the roulette machine. The roulette machine started spinning and they couldn't get up as it spun too fast.

"Somebody stop it I want to get off!" Goofy yelled. Oogie laughed and threw a glowing die into the machine and it exploded near Sora, sending him into the wall and then crashing back down on the machine.

Goofy dodged a die but this one did not explode. Instead it landed on a number and the machine reacted to it by buzz saws coming from the sides and coming towards them. This was complete insanity!

Donald jumped over the buzz saw and used Fira on Oogie but he was able to dodge the attack. A Wight Knight came from nowhere and punched Donald across the face. Jack tried to jump up to Oogie's level but it was too high.

"Strike Raid!" Sora tossed the Crabclaw but Oogie proved to be to fast as he dodged that as well. With another roll of the die two razor blades came from the middle of the machine and started trying to cut them.

Donald was hit by one of the blades and was cut deeply. He cured himself but knew he needed to defend himself. Aero wouldn't cut it this time. He needed a stronger defense spell.

"Aerora!" he used the second level Aero spell. There was more wind and the wind seemed to be sharp enough to injure someone. One of the buzz saws came at him but broke against the Aerora.

"Summon!" Sora yelled. "Genie!" Genie appeared from the Crabclaw and aimed his magic spells at Oogie. Oogie dodged a few of them but the last few connected and he was thrown back. This distracted him long enough that the roulette stopped spinning for a few minutes.

Jack jumped on the stopped buzz saw and used the extra leverage to jump up to Oogie's level. With a powerful punch Jack cut deeply into Oogie's side.

"I won't be beaten!" Oogie yelled and caused another small explosion that knocked Jack back down onto the roulette and it started moving again. Sora was ready to summon Genie but Goofy stopped him.

"Rocket!" Goofy yelled and he shot himself up. Oogie was too surprised to dodge and Goofy burst right through him. The roulette stopped and rose up to Oogie's level and they all got off. Oogie's body dissolved away and all that was left was the heart.

"I guess that heart was a failure after all," Jack said and they turned and walked away. Where Oogie had been was a piece of paper. Sora picked it up to see it was Ansem's Report 7. He placed it with one and three and walked out with the others.

As they were walking back to Halloween Town the ground started to rumble. Sora and the others turned to see Oogie's skin cover his entire manor.

"What did I tell you?" Sora smirked to Goofy. "They always get bigger." Goofy nodded and started running at the manor.

"I told you fools!" Oogie yelled. "I will not be defeated!" almost an army of Heartless appeared between them and the manor. They braced themselves as the Heartless charged at them.

Sora spun the Keyblade like he never had before. Heartless were struck down left and right but when one died two more seemed to take its place. With a mighty cry Sora jumped deeper into the fray.

Goofy batted Heartless away with his great strength. At one point they threatened to over take him but with a quick Tornado they were blown away. A Wight Knight charged at Goofy and Goofy charged at the Wight Knight. When the two met the Wight Knight went flying back from the amazing force.

"Sora!" Jack tried to get Sora's attention.

"What is it?"

"Look at the top of the manor!" Jack pointed. Sora took a glance to see a glowing dark orb on a tree branch the extended from the very top of the manor. Now the problem was getting to it.

"Aerora!" Donald shouted as his wind shield reappeared. A couple Heartless were blown away by it but more merely took their place. Donald created a powerful Thundara and a large chunk of the Heartless were wiped out.

Jack grabbed one of the Wight Knights and started spinning it around, knocking the others away. He needed to clear a path for Sora to get through. The four warriors were alone against a small army and all seemed hopeless as all four were overtaken at the same time and their hearts were about to be taken.

A shadowy form flew toward Halloween Town as fast as it could. He pulled his sword from his back and spotted a few Heartless below him and he was still quite a distance away from the site of the battle. He boosted his speed hoping to get there in time.

Sora gave in. There was just to many Heartless for him to fight back properly. He just lay there and waited for the end now. The form suddenly flew in and started hacking up the Heartless with lightning speed.

"How did you get here?" Sora yelled as he saw the one who saved him. "Cloud?" Cloud turned from him and sliced through some more Heartless.

"I brought some friends!" Cloud yelled and Leon and Cid appeared from the Halloween Town entrance. Cid pulled a spear off his back and started to wipe out a bunch of Heartless. Leon used his Gunblade to slice through the ranks of Heartless.

"Go kid!" Cid yelled. "We cut a path!"

"You must finish this villain off!" Leon shouted to him. Sora nodded and ran through the opening in the Heartless. He had to cut a few down that were in midair as they jumped at him but they were no problem. He got to the base of the manor and started to climb.

Donald, Goofy, and Jack were amazed by the fighting powers of Cloud, Leon, and Cid as they did battle with the small army and seemed to have the upper hand.

Sora climbed to the top of the manor when suddenly about fifty flying Heartless started flying towards him. Sora tried to use Gravity but there was simply to many. He needed something stronger.

"Gravira!" Sora shouted as the ball of black magic appeared and then expanded until it was large enough to crush every one of the Heartless. Another second level spell. Sora slowly walked over to the dark orb. He raised the Crabclaw high into the air and jammed it down. The orb was destroyed and the dark energy seemed to explode. Sora was thrown from the manor and was headed toward the ground but Cloud caught him as he was falling.

"It's over," Jack said as the entire manor exploded from result of the orb being destroyed. Sora sighed to himself. His journey was far from over and this world was so tough. It almost seemed like a climactic finish.

"No," Sora said quietly. There was still the matter of finding Kairi, finishing off Hades once and for all, and of course defeating Maleficent. Not to mention he still had a score to settle with Riku.

"How did you guys get here?" Goofy asked Cloud, Leon, and Cid.

"I sensed something was wrong," Cloud said. "I knew it would be to big for me alone so I went to Traverse Town and asked these guys for help."

"Always good to be back in action!" Cid laughed.

"Not bad gramps," Sora smirked.

"You better watch it kid," Cid smirked back.

"We didn't really want to interfere," Leon said. "This is your journey Sora. This was a one-time thing. From here on out you're on your own. No more help."

"I understand," Sora said. The three powerful warriors said their goodbyes and left for Traverse Town and wherever Cloud went.

"Hey Sora," Jack turned to him. "I couldn't have done this without you." Jack gave him a Keychain that he had found. Sora removed the Crabclaw and placed the new one on. The blade turned completely black and the key part looked like a bat attached to the top.

"I'll call this one the Pumpkinhead," Sora said.

"Thanks again Sora," Jack said as he headed back to the lab. Sora, Donald, and Goofy waved goodbye.

"Hey Sora, look at this," Donald caught Sora's attention.

"What?" Sora asked but Donald did not have to point it out. Where the manor had been was a giant Keyhole in the ground. Sora fired the beam form the Keyblade and locked the world. The three looked at each other and then turned and walked away to get to the next world.

Riku stood on Captain Hook's ship with Maleficent at his side. In front of him was a motionless Kairi on a bed.

"What happened to her?" Riku asked.

"Her heart taken by the Heartless no doubt," Maleficent faked sadness.

"Can I help her?"

"There is no known way of bringing a heart back. But there is a way to find out how to do it."

"How?"

"When all seven Princesses of Heart are in one place their hearts can be used to open the Final Keyhole. Within lies untold wisdom. Surely you could find the answer there. But I will need your help gathering the princesses."

"I'll help," Riku sighed.

"Good. Now I will grant you a marvelous gift! The power to control the Heartless!" she laughed and Riku's body was shrouded in darkness.


	14. Neverland

Chapter 13

Neverland

As our three heroes traveled to the next world a blip appeared on the radar once again. Donald examined it and hoped it wasn't Monstro again.

"I don't think it's Monstro," Goofy said as he pointed ahead. Coming straight toward them was a large pirate ship.

"You think we can fight it?" Donald asked.

"Sure," Sora said. "We never lose."

"We lost," Sora said as he stood on the front of the ship. Donald and Goofy had been taken away when they were brought aboard.

"Well hello Sora," Said a very familiar voice from behind Sora.

"Hello Riku," Sora said before even turning around. Sure enough there stood Riku on a higher level of the ship. "Where's Donald and Goofy?"

"Are you still worried about them?" Riku asked in disgust. "You ask about them when you should be asking about her." Riku moved to reveal the motionless Kairi.

"Kairi!" Sora yelled and reached out for her but two Soldiers appeared and held him back.

"While you were out playing games I found her," Riku said. A Soldier delivered a powerful blow to the back of Sora's neck and Sora fell unconscious.

"Very nice my boy!" Captain Hook walked up to him.

"Place Sora somewhere. Take Kairi and leave her with that other girl," Riku told him and walked away.

"That little brat! Giving me orders on my ship!" Hook yelled. "Smee!" A small fat man came running up to him.

"Yes Captain?" Smee asked.

"Put the boy in the hold," Hook said as he noticed Sora starting to wake up.

"But Captain, you know who is also down there."

"I know that! Take him to the hold!" Hook shouted and stormed off. He grabbed Kairi and took her to her room with their other female captive.

"Are you sure it was her?" Goofy asked. Both Donald and Goofy had been down in the hold where Sora was thrown.

"Yeah! It was Kairi!" Sora said in excitement.

"That's great!" Donald said. "So how about getting off!" Donald shouted indicating that when Sora was thrown in he had landed on Donald and Goofy and Donald had ended up on the bottom.

"Oh, sorry," Sora laughed as he stood up and helped the others up.

"Who's there?" came a voice from the shadows of the room that made the three of them jump.

"What?" Sora tried to see whom it was.

"Who are you?" a person jumped out from the shadows and stood before them. He was about Sora's height with red hair, and green feathered cap, and a green outfit.

"My name's Sora. This is Donald and Goofy," Sora said.

"The name's Peter. Peter Pan," he said. "I'm here to find a friend of mine named Wendy. I tried to sneak out but I got caught and put here."

"I'm trying to get to a friend as well," Sora said.

"Well I guess we're working together," Peter put his hand out but as Sora went to shake it Peter pulled it away. "But only till we find Wendy." Before Sora could say anything a small ball of light flew into the room. On closer inspection Sora saw it was a tiny woman. A fairy it seemed.

"What's that Tink?" he asked the fairy. "You found Wendy?" Tink as he called her seemed to jingle and Peter nodded. "Guys, this is Tinker Bell."

"Hello," Sora gave a small wave but Tink turned back to Peter and jingled again.

"Forget about her?" Peter asked in disbelief. "We have to rescue her Tink!" Tink huffed and turned away,

"Looks like someone is jealous!" Donald laughed. Tink flew up to Donald and landed a swift kick to Donald's beak.

"Let's go!" Peter said as he suddenly raised himself into the air.

"You can fly?" Goofy asked.

"Yeah! Anybody can fly! You just need a little pixie dust and think a happy thought!" Peter said and blew some pixie dust on the three of them. Donald tried to fly but even as a duck he couldn't do it.

"I guess it takes a little practice," Sora laughed. Peter shrugged and Tink unlocked the door from the outside and they walked out.

They had tried to sneak around the ship but a Heartless had caught them. Now many were coming for them. It was a new kind that looked like a Bandit but instead of a turban and a vest they were dressed like pirates. They were called Pirates.

Sora ducked a strike from a pirate when another kind of Heartless appeared. It looked like a Pirate but had wings. It was an Air Pirate. He dodged a strike from a Pirate and Air Pirate at the same time and was able to cut the Air Pirate down.

Peter flew forward with great speed and cut down the Air Pirates with his small dagger that he had. As he got to the wall of the room he flipped around and kicked off of the wall launching himself straight through an Air Pirate. Two Pirates jumped at him but he did a split kick and knocked them away.

Goofy bashed away at a rather stubborn Pirate that wouldn't be killed. He crouched down to avoid an attack and then ran forward and hit the Pirate with his shield and then crushed the Pirate in between his shield and the wall. An Air Pirate flew straight at him. Goofy stepped to the side and the Air Pirate crashed into the wall by himself and fell to the ground in a heap.

Donald was going trigger happy with Firas and was blasting many of the Heartless away and killed many of them.

"Donald!" Sora stopped him.

"What?"

"May I remind you we are in inter world space and on a wooden boat. Please do not use Fira in close quarters!" Donald looked around and saw a place where he almost set the entire ship on fire.

"Sorry," he said. Sora whipped around and cut through the final Pirate as it tried to jump him.

"That's all right," Sora said as they walked on.

The four of them got to what must have been Hook's room as it was the best on the entire ship. Outside the door they would find Hook.

"Hello again Sora," Riku hopped down from a part of the ceiling.

"What do you think you're doing Riku? It's wrong and you know it!" Sora shouted at him.

"I'm going to stop you Sora. I won't have you ruining my plan for saving Kairi!" Riku shouted back. Riku waved his hand in front of him and a pool of darkness appeared. Out of the pool came a familiar shape. It was Sora! Except this Sora was completely black. Clothes, skin, and everything. Even a black Kingdom Key.

"What is that?" Donald asked.

"Meet my greatest creation!" Riku laughed. "I call it the Antisora!" Riku walked backwards and created a dark portal behind him and stepped through. Sora ran toward him but Antisora stepped in front of him.

They both held their Keyblades level. Sora struck first but Antisora blocked it almost instantly. Antisora went for an attack but Sora dodged it and struck back. Antisora was able to block once again. The two Keyblades smashed against each other again and again as they were both able to instantly tell where the other was going. It was like fighting against yourself.

Luckily for Sora, Antisora's Keyblade was not real so it did not have as much power as his did. However Antisora was way to knowledgeable of Sora's attack style and they continued to block each other's strikes. Sora thought of how he would be able to trick himself but was drawing a blank.

Both of them jumped back and shot Blizarra at each other. The attacks were cancelled out and the two were in close range once again. Sora jumped up and tried to strike Antisora's head but Antisora jumped back and brought his Keyblade up to meet Sora's.

"Sonic Blade!" they both yelled and they both became blurs that rushed pass each other. They both stopped and continued staring away from each other. They stood there with Keyblades level back to back.

Antisora's face suddenly twisted in pain and he dropped to his knees. Sora brought the Pumpkinhead up and then brought it down straight through Antisora's back and he was killed.

"How'd you do that?" Goofy asked.

"Well, when we both shouted Sonic Blade and started running I quickly switched to a Strike Raid and while he was stunned I finished up the Sonic Blade," Sora explained to them.

"Not bad!" came a voice similar to Sora's but with a darker edge to it. They looked up to see that Antisora was still alive. "To bad I thought ahead as well. While you were switching to Strike Raid I created a copy of myself and jumped up here."

"No way!" Peter yelled.

"Every attack you throw I counter!" Antisora laughed. "I also know the fighting ways of Donald and Goofy, even you Peter. I am made from a part of Sora you know."

"I'm going to get you!" Sora yelled as he jumped after his dark self. The two crossed Keyblades once again and stood in a stalemate.

"Don't you see Sora?" Antisora laughed. "I am everything you could be! If you let your darkness grow! I know you can! I am a part of you!"

"Oh yeah? What if I do something new?" Sora asked.

"You have nothing new!" Antisora laughed. Sora jumped back and pointed his Pumpkinhead at Antisora.

"Stopra!" Sora shouted out the second level Stop spell. Antisora was hit with the spell and couldn't move.

"I should be to strong for this!" Antisora yelled.

"You're forgetting," Sora said. "You're a part of me. You know everything about me so in turn I know everything about you. Like I know how I'm not very resistant to magic attacks." Sora took the Pumpkinhead and slammed it through Antisora's chest and killed him for good.

"Let's get going Sora," Donald said as he started walking toward the door. They stood there as Donald turned the doorknob. The floor suddenly gave way as a trap door opened. They all fell in and the door closed before Peter could fly out.

"Open up!" Peter slammed his fists into the door.

"Peter!" came a female voice.

"Wendy!" Peter noticed the metal grating on the other side of the ceiling and he could see Wendy in the room above them. "I'm going to get you out Wendy."

"Hey Wendy!" Sora shouted. "Is there another girl up there with you?"

"Why yes," Wendy said, "But she must be sleeping for she has not moved an inch since she got here."

"Kairi!" Sora shouted. Unseen by all Kairi's hand moved from her lap and fell to the floor.

"What?" Captain Hook yelled. "You mean to say that Wendy is not one of the chosen ones!"

"There are seven," Riku told him, "And Maleficent says she isn't one."

"Well then what do I do?" Hook asked.

"Do whatever you want. I'm taking Kairi and getting out of here," Riku said as he walked away from Hook.

Peter and Wendy were thinking of way they could get Wendy and Kairi out when the door burst opened. Riku stepped in and grabbed Kairi and stared Sora down before he left. Smee came in and grabbed Wendy and took her outside.

"We're going in!" Sora yelled. "Goofy can you bust through the metal?"

"Rocket!" Goofy yelled and the force of the attack caused him to go through it like a knife through butter. The rest of them climbed up and head outside as well. There stood Hook with Wendy but Riku and Kairi were gone.

"Quite a codfish that Riku," Hook smirked. "Running off without even saying goodbye to you."

"Where is he?" Sora demanded.

"To the ruins of Hallow Bastion of course. Where Maleficent resides," Hook said.

"Hallow Bastion?" Sora asked. He had heard that before.

"Wendy!" Peter reached for her and Hook just let her go.

"She is of no more use to me," Hook told them.

"Sora, I'm going to get Wendy out of here!" Peter said as he scooped her up and flew off. "I'll be back!"

"Come now Heartless!" Hook yelled and several Pirates appeared. Donald and Goofy were prepared to fight but Sora was suddenly lost in a current of emotion. Riku's betrayal finally set in fully, Kairi losing her heart, and so many other things. One of the other things he always thought of. Where were his other friends from home? Where was his mom when Destiny Islands was destroyed?

"Sora, what's wrong?" Goofy asked. Sora couldn't answer. The Keyblade that shimmered so brightly before lost its luster and it disappeared. Sora's heart wasn't strong enough to wield it now.

"Now you'll walk the plank!" Hook laughed and pushed Sora out there first. Below Sora a large crocodile circled the waters. "No! It's the croc that took me hand! Finish them off for me Smee!" Hook ran back to his room.

"You heard the Captain!" Smee told the nearest Pirate. The Pirate nodded and walked up to Sora with one more push Sora was off the plank and headed straight for the croc below him.

'Fly Sora!' Peter's voice echoed in his head. 'Just believe! You can do it!' Sora shook back into reality and thought of his happy thought. Being at home with Riku and Kairi and life was peaceful again. Sora stopped right before he reached the croc and flew back up, the Keyblade appearing in his hands once again.

Donald and Goofy shouted in approval and broke free of their captors. Sora flew down and cut through his enemies. They turned to Smee.

"I got him!" Peter flew down and grabbed Smee. He took the man up to the crow's nest and applied pressure to a certain point of his neck to put him to sleep.

"Peter!" Sora said as he flew up to join him. Donald and Goofy looked at each other and both thought the same thought, finding King Mickey. The two were slowly lifted into the air and joined the others.

"Watch this!" Peter said as he flew down to Hook's door and tapped on it.

"Is that you Smee?" came Hook's voice from the other side.

"Aye Captain!" Peter said in a voice that sounded just like Smee. "They walked the plank, every last one of them!" The door burst open and Hook ran out and looked around. Peter snuck up behind him and poked him in the butt with his dagger making the captain jump high into the air.

"What?" Hook turned to see them. "I'll get you!" Hook pulled his sword from his waist and a bunch of Heartless appeared behind him. Even a kind that floated in the air and looked like a ship called a Battleship.

Hook attacked with his sword but Sora parried the blow. Sora had to duck as Hook sliced above him. When Hook went for an uppercut with the blade Sora flipped upwards and hung in the air. He flew back down and swiped at Hook but his attack was blocked and the two swordsmen continued to battle.

Donald flew into the air and shot one of the Battleships with a Fira but it wasn't very effective. Goofy went flying towards it at amazing speed and slammed into it but only made a dent. Donald spun his staff around and then pointed it at the Battleship as it glowed with dark energy.

"Gravira!" Donald used the second level Gravity spell. The battleship was crushed underneath them and into the water. Donald and Goofy nodded to each other and went to help Sora when the Battleship burst from the water.

Peter helped Sora as best he could but it always went back to Sora and Hook in a swashbuckling showdown. Sora flew forward at Hook and did a front flip in the air to put more weight behind his blow. The Pumpkinhead smashed into Hook's blade and Hook faltered a little. Hook regained himself and thrust toward Sora's stomach but Sora jumped to the right and came back with an attack of his own.

Goofy bent backwards to avoid a rush attack from the Battleship. It was a little more banged up from the Gravira but was still in fighting shape. The cannons and the side of the Battleship pointed at them and were fired. Both Donald and Goofy were hit and went flying back until they dropped back down onto the ship.

The sound like a crowing rooster caught their attention and they looked up to see Peter rush past them and fly straight toward the Battleship. The Battleship fired more rockets but Peter was much better at flying than Donald or Goofy and was able to dodge them. With a powerful strike from his dagger Peter cleaved the front of the Battleship in half and it was finally destroyed.

Sora tried to think of an attack that would end the fight. No telling what would happen if he used Sonic Blade now that there was not that much room to run. He could use the Strike Raid but Hook was definitely too skilled with the blade to let the attack hit him. Sora needed a new attack and he had it. He had been working on this attack.

"Ars Arcanum!" Sora yelled. He ran forward and used his magic to speed up his arms. Soon the Pumpkinhead was a blurring vision of metal and it was to fast for Hook to keep up. The Pumpkinhead continued to be just a blur as Sora struck all over the evil captain's body and cuts appeared all over. For that last blow he used the Pumpkinhead like a baseball bat and Hook went flying over the side of the ship and into the water.

"Why you little!" Hook shouted from the water. He was about to climb up into the ship when he heard something swimming in the water. The large crocodile came up from the water and with a loud and kind of girlish scream, Hook swam off into the night with the croc right behind him.

"We did it!" Peter cheered. "You guys want to come with me to go say bye to Wendy. I kind of left her on the clock tower in London."

"We'll be there in a minute," Sora said. Peter nodded and took off. Sora walked over to the side of the side of the ship and allowed the sea wind to whip his hair around his face as he stood in deep thought.

"Well Kairi didn't move so maybe she really lost her…" Goofy was cut off as Donald elbowed him in the stomach.

"Kairi," Sora muttered. Donald and Goofy looked on but remained quiet. "I can't believe…I actually flew! Kairi won't believe it!"

"Yeah," Donald said as he breathed a sigh of relief. "You'll just have to bring her here sometime."

"Yeah," Sora said. "Let's catch up with Peter." Sora said as they flew up into the air. Sora had a new look of determination on his face. It was no longer a question on if he was going to save Kairi. It was _how_.

"Peter!" Goofy yelled down as they landed on the clock tower. The lights of London nightlife shown below them.

"Hey guys! This is Wendy!" he said as he motioned to the girl. Sora nodded to her and suddenly felt the Pumpkinhead pulling at him. He summoned it to his side and flew down to one of the sides of the clock tower. This one clock had a different time than the others. He quickly fixed it and a small Keyhole appeared where the large minute hand had been before.

"I guess I'm done here," Sora said as he flew back up to Peter and Wendy. Tinker Bell was flying between them.

"Sora, I need you to do me a favor," Peter said. "I know you'll be leaving soon and I want you to take Tink with you." Tinker Bell flew around in shock and was spraying dust everywhere.

"Why?" Donald asked.

"I need you to trust me on this," Peter said. "Will you go with them Tink? For me at least?" Tinker Bell seemed to flatly refuse but she soon gave in and nodded. The little fairy suddenly changed into a Summon Gem and Sora placed her into the blade.

"I want you to have this as a thanks," Wendy said and handed over a Keychain. Sora took off the Pumpkinhead and put on the new one. The new Keyblade was smaller than the rest but still seemed to fit into Sora's hand like it was made for him. The key part looked kind of like a harp.

"I'll call this one the Fairy Harp," Sora said. He placed the Pumpkinhead in his pocket with the other Keychains.

"Hook dropped this, maybe you need it," Peter gave Sora a piece of paper. Sora already knew it must have been part of Ansem's Report. He was right, it was Ansem's Report 9. They said their goodbyes and headed back to the ship.

"You guys there? Hello?" the voice of Hercules came from the Gummi Ship. "I wanted to invite you guys to a new tournament. I like to call it the Hercules Cup."


	15. Olympus Coliseum Hercules Cup

Chapter 14

Olympus Coliseum-Hercules Cup

Cloud watched from above as Sora entered the Coliseum with Donald and Goofy following shortly behind him. He had made a promise not to help Sora anymore, this was his journey.

"I think he needs to be tested again," Cloud said. He pulled the Buster Sword from his back. He had a tournament to sign up for.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked into the coliseum when a sudden wave of people came at them.

"Oh Zeus! It's Sora!" Sora heard a girl scream.

"Wow!" Said a really good-looking girl near the entrance. "It's Sora!"

"Hi," Sora said as he faced her but Donald grabbed him and pulled him inside.

Hades stood face to face with Sephiroth. Hades tried to show no fear from Sephiroth's presence but even the Lord of the Underworld shook under his gaze.

"You will take them out soon," Sephiroth told him.

"I'll take out whoever I want whenever I want!" Hades shouted.

"I don't want to waste my time cleaning up your messes," Sephiroth's voice was so demanding Hades had an urge to drop to his knees and bow to the warrior.

"There will be no mess. If the snot nosed brat is able to beat Jerkules then I will fight him. Only then!"

"You better hope you succeed," Sephiroth scowled and disappeared. Hades yelled in fury as red fire consumed the room he stood in. He needed a plan.

"I got it!" Hades yelled. "Soon both Hercules and the Keybearer will fall!"

Sora stretched as he prepared for his first fight. Donald and Goofy stood impatient behind him. Suddenly five Gargoyles and three Shadows appeared. The two teams jumped at each other.

"Well if it isn't Cloud," Phil said as Cloud walked into the room. Cloud stared at Phil and slightly smiled.

"I would like to sign up Phil," Cloud said.

"Really!" Phil jumped in excitement. "I still have time to advertise it! Cloud vs. Sora, Donald, and Goofy: Rematch of the Century!"

Donald shot off the Thundara and killed two Gargoyles with it. A Shadow jumped at him but Donald leaped over it. Donald stayed in the air and used Glide to get to the Shadow quickly and used Fira to kill it.

Goofy dodged an attack from a Gargoyle and then spun around and cracked it in the head with his shield. As the two remaining Shadows came at him Goofy dropped to the ground and spun on his shield, effectively kicking the two Shadows hard enough to destroy them. Only two Gargoyles remained.

The two Gargoyles flew at Sora at high speed. Sora jumped and did a twist in the air to dodge the strikes.

"Gravira!" Sora used his spell and the two Gargoyles were killed. They smiled and waved at the crowd who approved of their fast victory.

"Attention everyone!" Phil came running out onto the stage. "I am sad to announce that Sora, Donald, and Goofy will not be fighting for another thirty minutes." The crowd groaned and booed. "But say hello to their next opponent!"

The crowd erupted into applause as Cloud walked out. Sora almost went pale when he saw Cloud. The tournament just got a lot harder.

Hercules stood in a quiet forest. His eyes were closed and his listened for any sound around him. Hercules jumped up and punched straight through a nearby tree, reducing it to splinters.

"It's my turn to win," Hercules said. "Sorry Sora."

"What?" Sora shouted when he heard the news. "I have to face Cloud and Hercules in the same tournament!" Donald was walking around nervously and Goofy was on his bed, fast asleep.

"That's what I said!" Donald told him. "I'm not sure what chance we stand. The Heartless would be no problem but those two?"

"I see your point," Sora said as he sighed. The coliseum battles were just getting harder and harder as time went on.

"Next round!" Phil shouted. "Hercules will face Cloud! The winner of this round goes on to face Sora!" Phil heard the boos start. He had promised them Cloud vs. Sora and the others next but certain things had gotten in the way.

Hercules and Cloud stepped into the ring as the crowd started to settle down and choose whom they wanted to win. The two warriors jumped at each other. Cloud decided to leave his Buster Sword on his back for a while.

Hercules delivered a powerful punch but Cloud was able to maneuver away at the last second and delivered a kick in the hero's gut. Hercules was sent flying backwards but stopped himself. Cloud and Hercules ran at each other and clasped their hands together and began to push in a match of strength.

"Forget it Cloud!" Hercules shouted. "I'm a Demi-God!"

"Oh yeah?" Cloud said in a cold voice. "Well I'm a full God!" Cloud pushed hard enough that Hercules was pushed backward and Cloud landed a heavy punch to Hercules' face sending him to the ground once more.

Hercules jumped back up and charged at Cloud and tackling him to the ground with tremendous force. Cloud slammed into the ground and the ring was starting to be ripped into pieces. Cloud flipped the two of them over so Hercules was taking the damage. Both tried to get to their feet but the other would pull them down.

Hercules placed his foot into Cloud's gut and kicked as hard as he could. Cloud was sent into the air and crashed back into the ring. Hercules pulled his blade from his side and Cloud pulled out his Buster Sword.

Both blades met as the two met in the center of the ring. Hercules moved back and ducked to stab at Cloud's stomach. Cloud spun around with his Buster Sword out and deflected the attack.

Cloud and Hercules clashed their weapons again and both blades were thrown from their hands and landed a couple of feet away. Hercules pulled his fist back and Cloud did the same. Hercules' fist glowed with golden energy and Cloud's was red. The large black wing erupted from Cloud's shoulder.

They ran at each other and punched each other at the same time across the face. They were both thrown back and landed hard on the ground. The two were still and didn't get back up.

"I guess that means a tie!" Phil shouted. "Both of them will advance. So after he gets enough rest it will be Cloud vs. Sora, Donald, and Goofy and then Hercules will face them!"

Sora paced along with Donald in their room. They had hoped that either Cloud or Hercules would have been taken out of the tournament but both of them advanced with their tie.

"It's time you guys!" Phil said. "Cloud's waiting for you in the ring."

"All ready?" Sora said. "Oh well." Sora and Donald woke Goofy and they walked out to the ring.

Cloud was ready. He had been waiting for this match for a while now. He needed to test not just Sora but Donald and Goofy as well. Those two would be needed if the Heartless were to be defeated.

"Begin!" Phil shouted. Cloud ran as fast as he could at Sora but then jumped over him and attacked Goofy. Goofy had his shield up and ready as quick as possible. Donald had turned around and used Blizarra on Cloud. Cloud ignored the cold and jumped away. The three warriors stood in front of Cloud with fierce determination.

"This should be very interesting," Sephiroth laughed to himself as he sat in the stands. "If Cloud is being equaled by these feeble ones then he has truly lost his touch." The Sephiroth felt it. A greatly suppressed power.

He stared at Cloud and could feel the great energy within him. Cloud was holding back and he was holding back a lot. Sephiroth chuckled to himself. "When will you truly fight the boy Strife?"

Sora blocked a strike from Cloud and dropped to the ground as Goofy jumped over him and hit Cloud in the head with his shield. Cloud fell to the ground but quickly hopped back to his feet.

"Sonic Blade!" Cloud and Sora yelled as they both used the attack. The two blurs rushed pass each other and when they were able to be seen they turned to face each other again showing neither took to much damage.

"Fira!" Donald shot off and Cloud was hit in the back hard. Cloud whipped around and kicked Donald in the stomach, sending the wizard flying back. Goofy used Charge and knocked Cloud off his feet again. Cloud was quickly able to spring back to his feet with Buster Sword ready once again.

Sora decided to take the offensive and ran straight at Cloud. Cloud swiped at him with the Buster Sword but Sora rolled under it and brought the Fairy Harp up and made a cut into Cloud's chest. Cloud looked at the cut and smiled before healing himself up.

Donald and Goofy prepared to attack but Cloud was one step ahead of them and they were left on the defensive. Goofy got in front of Donald and used his shield to block Cloud's strike. Goofy then ducked and Cloud was hit with a Fira in the face. He healed himself again and jumped back.

"Aerora!" Sora used his spell as he felt Cloud's attack coming. The black wing erupted from Cloud's back once more. Dark energy surrounded Cloud as he floated into the air. Suddenly Cloud was no longer the friendly loner that Sora knew but in that pose in the sky and dark energy around him Cloud was a great demon of destruction.

Cloud flew forward and started slicing with the Buster Sword. The strikes were powerful and Sora was thrown back. Goofy held up his shield but the shield cracked and was split in half from the force of the attack. Donald was able to avert danger as Cloud came back down to the ground and the energy disappeared.

Cloud's eyes went wide as he felt two objects strike both sides of his head. Goofy had sandwiched Cloud's head between the two pieces of the shield. Cloud fell to the ground and did not get back up.

"Winners!" Phil announced. Donald and Sora cheered but Goofy just stared at his broken shield.

"Hey Goofy," Hercules came up to them. "I think I know someone who can fix your shield for you."

"Really?" Goofy's eyes filled with hope.

"Yeah, I'll take it now and we can fight when I get back," Hercules said as he started to walk off.

"Wait," Cloud's voice stopped them. They turned to see a perfectly fine Cloud standing there. "You need to fight now. I'll take the shield to get fixed." Cloud walked up to Hercules and took the shield pieces. He nodded once and flew into the air.

"I guess we can get on with the finals!" Phil shouted. "It will be Sora, Donald, and Goofy vs. the great Hercules!"

"No," Sora stopped them. "Hercules! I challenge you to face me alone!"

"What?" Hercules asked in shock.

"Hey!" Donald stormed up to him. "You can't do this!"

"You already used up most of your energy and Goofy can't fight either way! Besides, this is the way I want it!" Sora shouted.

"Fine!" Donald walked away. "Show off."

"I guess it's only Sora vs. Hercules!" Phil shouted. About half of the crowd that had the Donald or Goofy signs booed but soon shut up to see the match.

Hercules and Sora faced each other in the center of the ring.

"This is it Sora!" Hercules said. "If you beat me you will officially be known as a full fledged hero!"

"Is that so?" Sora asked as he leveled the Fairy Harp at Hercules.

"Begin!" Phil shouted. They jumped at each other and Hercules pulled his sword from his holster and the two blades struck each other. Sora was the better swordsman of the two but Hercules was much stronger.

Sora jumped back to avoid a strike from Hercules and then whipped the Fairy Harp around to hit the Demi-God but Hercules jumped out of the way. Both blades met once again and Hercules used his strength to push Sora back. As Hercules ran at him Sora prepared his attack.

"Ars Arcanum!" Sora shouted. His Fairy Harp became a blur of green as it began to strike Hercules all over. Hercules was able to get one good block and jumped away from the onslaught.

Hercules slammed his fists into the ground, making a shockwave that knocked Sora off his feet. For the second Sora was in the air Hercules ran up to him and punched him as hard as he could. Sora was sent flying backwards until he slammed into the magical barrier around the ring.

Keeping on the offensive, Hercules ran forward as Sora slowly got to his feet. Hercules hit him in the face again and then in the stomach. Sora crashed to the ground and didn't seem to be moving.

"Sora! Get up!" Donald yelled.

"You can do it Sora!" Goofy cheered with him. Sora could barely hear his two friends as he was on the brink of unconsciousness.

'Wait!' Sora thought. 'That's it! That's what makes me a hero!' Sora finally realized what being a hero meant.

"And the winner is…" Phil started.

"No!" Sora shouted as he slowly got to his feet. "I'm not ready to lose yet Hercules!" Sora said in a demanding voice. With the Fairy Harp at his side Sora rushed at Hercules with full speed. He ducked under a punch Hercules threw at him and sliced into the hero's side.

Hercules was in shock as he dropped to the ground with his side bleeding. He started to get back up but Sora stood over him.

"I win," Sora said and hit Hercules in the head with the blunt end of his Fairy Harp and Hercules was knocked out.

"The winner and still champion! Sora!" Phil shouted and the crowd erupted into applause. Sora smiled and waved before passing out right in the center of the ring.

Sora awoke later that day. He now stood in the lobby with Donald, Goofy, Phil, and the cured Hercules. Cloud had already stopped by and gave Goofy his shield back.

"I finally figured it out," Sora said. "I finally know what makes me a hero."

"Let's hear it then," Phil said.

"My friends make me a hero. Without them I would be nothing. I make them heroes and they do the same with me."

"That's not exactly…" Hercules clamped his hand over Phil's mouth.

"That's right Sora. Good job on finally becoming a true hero," Hercules said.

"Hey! I bet we can move this now!" Goofy said as he pointed to the large block that Sora had tried to move the very first time they came to the Coliseum. They laughed and all three walked over to it and pushed. The block moved and on the ground where the block had been was the Coliseum's Keyhole.

Sora stared at it and then pointed the Fairy Harp at it to lock the world for good.

"Great job Sora," Hercules said. "I had this for a long time and wondered when I should give it to you and I think now is the right time." Hercules handed Sora a Keychain.

Sora took off the Fairy Harp and placed the new Keychain on. The Keyblade changed quickly. The blade of it went from round to rectangle-like and the key part looked like clouds of some sort.

"Thanks Herc," Sora said as he examined it. "I'll call this one the Olympia."

"I'll see you Sora," Hercules waved as Sora, Donald, and Goofy left the Coliseum.


	16. Hallow Bastion

Chapter 15

Hallow Bastion

Riku stood with Maleficent in one of the rooms deep inside that castle at the ruins of Hallow Bastion.

"All the princesses are here," Riku said. Maleficent turned to see that there were six women locked inside some kind of capsules.

"Good. Our plan is almost complete," Maleficent turned to what she was looking at before, the Final Keyhole. A load roar came from outside.

"What was that?" Riku asked.

"Just a straggler. He came here by pure will alone," Maleficent seemed amused. "Take care of him."

"Of course," Riku grinned and walked outside.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy landed on the next world. As they got off the ship they saw that they were on a floating, blue-colored rock. There were many blue rocks floating ahead of them and waterfalls all around them. The rocks seemed to lead up to a large castle ahead of them.

"I have a weird feeling," Sora said. "Like I've been here before."

"Aw, you're just hungry," Donald said.

"Hey! I'm serious!" Sora shouted.

"Fine, fine," Donald waved it off. "Lets get going." They nodded and followed. As they climbed the rocks and got closer to the castle it seemed that it had been left in ruins and there didn't seem to be any life at all.

"What's that?" Goofy pointed up ahead. Two figures were on what looked like archway that leads to the castle. As they got closer Sora's eyes widened in fury as he recognized one of the figures.

"Riku," Sora muttered. The second figure was very large beast of some kind in royal like robes.

"I'm very impressed," Riku said. "No vessel, no help from the Heartless. How did you manage to make it to this world?"

"You took Belle," the Beast yelled. He was injured seeing as he held his hand over a cut on his arm and blood came from his leg. "I came to get her back!"

"Take her, if you can," Riku raised his sword once more.

"Riku!" Sora shouted as he ran up to his former friend.

"Sora, I see you finally made it," Riku grinned.

"Where's Kairi, Riku?"

"Straight to business huh? First, my business!" Riku yelled as he put his sword away. "You have something of mine!" Riku held out his hand. The presence of the Keyblade resting within him suddenly vanished. In Riku's hand was the Keyblade.

"What? How?" Sora asked.

"I am the true Keyblade Master!" Riku told him.

"No! I'm the one who fought my way here with the Keyblade!"

"You were just the delivery boy," Riku laughed. "You can have fun playing hero with this." Riku tossed a wooden sword at Sora's feet and walked away.

"Goofy, let's go," Donald said as he went to follow Riku. "We have our mission from the King and that's to follow the Keyblade."

"But, what about Sora?" Goofy asked as Sora looked on to what was happening with pure shock on his face. He was losing everything he had, again.

"Sora, sorry," Donald said as he kept walking. Goofy gave an apologetic look and walked on after Donald. Sora dropped to his hands and knees and tears came to his eyes. It was all just a lie. He was no hero.

"Belle," he heard the large beast mutter. He slowly got to his feet and stood on his shaking legs as he tried to walk. Sora looked at him with amazement. Sora got back to his feet and went to go help the beast.

"Stop! Your hurt."

"I must help Belle. I won't stop until I do."

"Then I'll go with you. My name's Sora."

"Just call me Beast," Sora nodded. He turned and picked up the wooden sword that Riku had thrown to him.

"I swore I'd save my two friends and I'm not done yet," Sora said. He used Cura on Beast and they continued to the castle. They saw that the castle was farther away than they thought. Almost half a mile of lake was in their way. Sora and Beast stepped onto a large, lift-like device. Soon the lift was moving and they were headed for the castle.

"What is that symbol?" Beast asked. Sora looked to see what he meant and saw that there was a large symbol that covered the front wall of the castle and Sora noticed it immediately. He had seen the crest his whole journey.

"Heartless."

Sora and Beast walked up to two large doors that lead into the castle. Three Heartless suddenly appeared before them. They were black spheres and nothing more.

"Darkballs!" Sora scanned them. Sora wondered how he would fight with only a wooden sword. This would be hopeless.

"Aside!" he heard Beast yell. A brown blur passed by him and Beast had suddenly ripped through the Darkballs with his claws in one strike each. Beast was incredibly powerful it seemed.

They opened the door to see Riku, Donald, and Goofy standing before them. Beast heard something behind him and turned to see the beautiful form of Belle. Belle was suddenly replaced with Heartless.

"No!" Beast yelled. He had been tricked. He lunged at the Heartless and the doors closed and locked behind him.

"Give up now," Riku told Sora. "Without the Keyblade you can't win."

"I know now that I don't need the Keyblade! I have a better weapon! My heart!" Sora said with defiance.

"Your heart? What can that weak little thing do for you? It's of no matter," Riku laughed as his clothes suddenly changed. His normal attire vanished and was replaced by a black long-sleeved shirt and black pants. He had black boots and red gloves with a white material hanging from the back of his waste. On the front of the shirt was the Heartless symbol. Black energy swirled up from under him and he fired a blast of dark magic at Sora.

Time seemed to slow down. The magic was getting closer and Sora had no way to defend himself. Just before it hit a figure ran in front of Sora. The magic bounced off of Goofy's shield.

"What's this?" Riku asked. "You would betray your King?"

"Not on your life!" Goofy told him. "But I won't betray Sora either. Donald, can you tell the King I'm sorry?"

"Hang on Goofy," Donald yelled as he ran to join them. "We'll tell him together. After all, all for one and one for all."

"Thanks Goofy, Donald," Sora said. "You see? Right now my heart is the strongest weapon of all!" He yelled. Riku stared in shock as the Keyblade disappeared from his hand and reappeared in Sora's.

"Impossible!" Riku yelled as he pulled his Soul Eater sword from behind him. Sora grinned and ran straight at his former friend with renewed fury in his eyes. He swiped with the Olympia but Riku blocked the strike and jumped back. Goofy came running at Riku but Riku ducked under Goofy's shield and then fired a blast of magic into his back.

Donald began to run at Riku and used Fira to cancel out a magic blast. Riku blocked another strike from Sora but was hit in the chest with a Blizarra and was sent flying back into the wall.

"Charge!" Goofy yelled as he ran forward at high speed with his shield in front of him and crashed into Riku, both busting through the wall. Riku growled and sliced at Goofy but he blocked with his shield. Riku placed his feet into Goofy's stomach and pushed as hard as he could, sending Goofy to the front of the room.

Sora was upon Riku in a heartbeat and Riku had to block another strike but he was starting to lose strength. He rolled out of the way as the Olympia crashed into the ground and made a small crater. Donald fired a Thundara that hit Riku in his arm but Riku kept running and kicked Donald in the head.

"This isn't over Sora!" Riku yelled as he gripped his arm. His clothes returned to normal and he ran off. Sora was about to go after him but decided against it. He helped Donald and Goofy up.

"Why'd you let him go?" Donald yelled.

"Because we have more important things to do," Sora said. "Like finding Maleficent and ending this once and for all."

"So it was your heart that won that battle," the voice of Beast said. They saw that Beast had ripped the doors open to join them in finding Maleficent.

Riku ran through one of the many corridors of Hallow Bastion. He was out of breath and still held his arm.

"No! How can he beat me?" Riku yelled as he stopped to catch his breath.

"He wanted it more," a deep voice said. Riku looked over to see a man in a brown cloak with a hood that covered his head. The same man that had met with Sora the day the island was destroyed.

"You saying his heart was stronger than mine?"

"For that instant it was. But you showed no fear in stepping through the door to darkness. Complete the journey."

"Will it help me beat Sora?"

"Of course. The great darkness will allow you to overcome any foe. You will grow stronger then you ever imagined."

"Then I am ready," Riku held his arms out. Both Riku and the cloaked man started glowing with blue energy. Riku's eyes went blank, as the Keybearer was lost to the darkness.

The Olympia ripped through the back of one of the new Heartless they had encountered called a Defender. It almost just looked like a regular man in blue armor but it had huge arms and a shield just as big. The shield seemed to be alive with the head of a vicious looking dog on the front.

Donald was currently locked in a battle of magic with a Heartless called a Wizard. They were like a man Donald's size that floated in the air wearing purple robes a pointy purple hat. It held a staff in one hand. Donald dodged a bolt of lighting and fired a Blizarra right in the Wizard's face, destroying.

Beast and Goofy were fighting several of another type of new Heartless called Wyverns. They were large dragon-like creatures with blood red skin. Goofy was able to distract a Wyvern by hitting it in the head with his shield and Beast took the time to destroy the Heartless.

"Summon!" Sora yelled as he raised his Olympia in the air. "Tinker Bell!" A golden light filled the air and Tinker Bell appeared. She flew over them and released a waved of golden energy. Instead of destroying the enemies the energy restored the tired warriors back to full health. Sora grinned as his energy returned.

"Strike Raid!" He tossed the Olympia at a Wyvern that flew high into the air and it was destroyed. Goofy destroyed two more with his Tornado attack and Donald blasted the final one away with a powerful Fira.

The group had been journeying through the castle and had found their way onto a large balcony where the Heartless crest was. They climbed on top of the giant platform the crest was carved into and proceeded to enter the castle through another door.

Maleficent stood in front of the Final Keyhole. All of her plans would end at the Keyhole when she used the princesses to unlock it. In the front of the large room was a short hallway and in the hallway were six large capsules, each with a different princess inside of it.

"I see the Keyhole is nearly complete," Maleficent jumped at the new voice. Riku walked up behind her with his dark clothes on again. His voice was different now. Riku's voice was still there but it seemed there was much deeper voice speaking as well.

"Yes, it is almost over," she ignored the voice. "Princesses of Heart! Reveal to me the Keyhole!" She held her staff over her head. The Final Keyhole was shaped like the Heartless Crest and dark energy started to flow from it until the Keyhole was brimming with darkness.

"Good," Riku said and pulled out a new blade.

"Is that?" Maleficent gazed in wonder.

"Yes, a Keyblade," Riku smirked. The Keyblade was similar to Sora's but the handle was red and the blade black. The key part was also red and unlike Sora's Keyblade was very sharp. The blade came to a dangerous point as well.

"Marvelous!" Maleficent said with a wide grin on her face. Riku pointed the Dark Keyblade at the Keyhole but nothing happened.

"Odd, my Dark Keyblade should be able to unlock the Keyhole and unleash the darkness. The Keyhole is not complete," Riku said.

"I must be her," Maleficent said and pointed to the lifeless form of Kairi on the ground behind them. The noise of battle caught their attention. "The king's fools are here. I'll deal with them myself. We shall finish this when I return."

Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Beast walked into a large room and the doorway disappeared behind them.

"We're not leaving that way," Donald told them.

"You're not leaving at all!" Maleficent's voice shouted from the back of the room. She stood there with her staff beginning to glow. A large chunk of ground under Maleficent broke off and turned into a floating platform high above their reach.

Sora ran forward, looking to end his journey when a Defender appeared in the way and with a swipe of its shield, slammed Sora into a wall making a nice size crater. Goofy ran up to the Defender and shield clashed with shield. The Defender's shield began glow red and a stream of fire burst from it. Goofy blocked the fire with his shield and leaped over the Defender, slamming his shield into the Defender's back to kill it.

Sora ran straight at a Wyvern but jumped to the side. As the Wyvern turned its head to see where Sora went there was enough time for Beats to slash through it. Beast turned to many of the other Heartless with a roar. He jumped forward and started slashing through them.

"Gravira!" Donald shouted and brought down Maleficent's platform. When she was all the way down Maleficent fired a blast of magic at Donald, making him fly back and hit the wall. Sora leaped into the air and raised the Olympia above his head. A black meteor flew through the air and crashed into Sora making him fly back next to Donald.

"You fools! I am untouchable!" Maleficent yelled.

"Trust me, no one wants to touch you," Sora said with a grin. Maleficent's face turned into a scowl as she fired more meteors at Sora. Sora rolled out of the way as each meteor crashed behind him.

"I will finish you!" Maleficent raised her staff and a huge beam of energy came flying from it. Sora and Beast were the first caught in the beam and then Donald. Goofy raised his shield but the force of the attack blew him back as well. Maleficent did not stop firing the beam but expanded it so it took up the whole room.

A flash of gold and blue appeared from the other end of the beam and there stood Simba and Genie firing their own magical beams and starting to push Maleficent's back. Sora stepped to the side of the beams and walked up to Maleficent with a calm look on his face.

"As long as you keep that beam going you can't attack me. Even if you broke it off there would be no time as Simba and Genie's attack would hit you before you even got the chance to attack again," Sora laughed and raised the Olympia. Maleficent decided to take a chance and broke her beam off. She tried to fire an attack quickly but the combined gold and blue magic slammed into her and she crashed through the wall behind her into another large room.

"We did it!" Goofy started doing an odd dance. "We beat the leader of the Heartless! It's finally over!"

"Interesting," Riku said as he stepped into view. He offered his hand to Maleficent. "Do you need any help?" She did not have the energy to answer him.

"Riku! What's happened to you?" Sora asked he they stared each other down. Riku smirked and held up his Dark Keyblade. "A Keyblade?"

"Yes. But unlike yours it holds the power to unlock people's hearts. Behold!" Riku turned and shoved the sharp tip of the Keyblade straight into Maleficent's heart. He laughed and walked away.

"I can feel it!" Maleficent shouted as the place where she was stabbed started to glow. "I feel the greatest darkness!" Maleficent then changed. She was no longer the one in control of the darkness, she was a part of it. She had transformed into a gigantic black dragon as big as the room itself. Her eyes glowed an eerie green and the same color smoke came from her mouth.

"I don't believe this! She got bigger!" Sora yelled in an annoyed voice. "This has got to stop happening!" The Dragon reared back and from its mouth came a great stream of green fire. Goofy dropped behind his shield but the heat was so intense it threatened to overwhelm him. Sora was behind a large boulder and closed his eyes as the green fire passed by his sides.

Donald and Beast had not been in the path of the fire and were now charging the Dragon with cries of battle.

"Aerora!" Donald surrounded himself with the shield of wind but the Dragon whipped its tail around and Donald was knocked back. Beast managed to slash at the underbelly of the Dragon but there seemed to be no effect and he too was knocked back.

"Thundara!" Sora and Donald shouted at the same time and the Dragon was stunned but just for a moment. Sora buried the Olympia into the Dragon's side and the Dragon roared in pain and knocked Sora away.

"Rocket!" Goofy blasted into the air and caught the Dragon in the face but while he was in the air he was an easy target and the Dragon caught him with a breath of green fire. Goofy yelled out in pain and slammed into the ground hard. As bad as he felt he looked even worse and convulsed in pain.

Donald crawled over to Goofy and used the best Cura he could but was quickly running out of energy. Goofy was partially cured and stood on shaking legs, ready to go another round with the Dragon.

Beast dug his claws into the Dragon's side and climbed onto its back. With a great roar he sunk his teeth into the Dragon's neck. The Dragon roared in pain and fury and jumped to its hind legs, making Beast slide off and crash into the ground. The Dragon prepared another blast of fire.

Goofy used his strength to toss Donald into the air. Just as the Dragon was about to unleash its attack Donald was heading straight for its mouth. As the Dragon opened its mouth wide Donald fired his most powerful Blizarra into its mouth and this made the attack backfire on the Dragon.

With one great sweep of its tail the Dragon had pinned Goofy and Donald against the wall and they were knocked unconscious. Sora was slowly getting to his feet, still recovering from the Dragon's last attack. He needed a summon but did not have the energy. It was too early to summon Simba, Genie, or Tinker Bell anyway so he leaned against the wall trying to think up a plan.

Beast let out a thunderous yell and charged the Dragon but another stream of fire left him to weak to battle anymore. The Dragon turned to Sora and prepared a final attack.

"No!" Sora shouted. "I must win!" Sora screamed into the air and the Dragon stared curiously at him. In Sora's hand was a Summon Gem he had picked up from the ground while he was down.

"Summon Dumbo!" He shouted and the small elephant appeared. He slammed his new Gem into the Olympia while energy swirled around him. "Summon Mushu!" He yelled and from the tip of the Olympia in a great huff of smoke appeared another dragon but this one was a Chinese type dragon and was barely as long as Sora's arm.

"Attack!" Sora pointed to the Dragon. Mushu hopped on top of Dumbo as they flew toward the Dragon. Dumbo sprayed a great gush of water at the Dragon and at the same spot Mushu fired a tremendous stream of flame. They both connected and the Dragon yelled in great pain.

In a flash of light Dumbo and Mushu disappeared and the Dragon started shrinking in size. Soon all that was left of the dragon was a pool of black blood.

"She was just another puppet after all," Riku laughed as he walked up to them and rubbed his foot in the blood.

"I won't let you win Riku," Sora said as he started walking slowly toward him.

"You can't put up any kind of fight the way you are now," Riku smirked. He waved his hands around the room and Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Beast found themselves suddenly fully restored. "That's better."

"What game do you think you're playing Riku?" Sora shouted. Riku said nothing a created a dark portal and walked inside. He left the portal open for them to walk through as well. Before he walked in Sora noticed something on the ground covered in the blood. It was a piece of paper, Ansem's Report 5. Sora was the first to go through the portal and the others followed.

They found themselves in the room with the Final Keyhole and the sleeping princesses. Beast held his hand up when he saw Belle's capsule and placed his hand on it.

"What have they done to you Belle?" Beast said with great sadness. They kept until the reached a set of stairs that led to a platform with the Final Keyhole on it. Sora ran onto the platform as he saw Kairi lying on it. Donald followed but as Beast and Goofy tried to follow a force field of some sort blocked them.

"Kairi! Wake up Kairi!" Sora shook her slightly.

"It's of no use," Sora looked up to see Riku sitting atop the Final Keyhole. "That girl has lost her heart. And the Final Keyhole cannot be complete until the seventh princess awakens." Riku pointed at Kairi with the Dark Keyblade.

"Kairi's a princess?" Sora asked in disbelief.

"Yes. She can never awaken as long as her heart rest within you," Riku said.

"Kairi's inside me?" Sora asked. Of course! Those times when he had visions of Kairi but there was nothing there. "You're not Riku. Who are you?"

"I am Ansem! Seeker of Darkness!" he shouted as the deeper voice that had been behind Riku's took over and floated down to the platform very slowly. "And I have taken your friend so I can take Kairi's heart from within you." Riku slowly started walking toward them. Donald ran to stop him and jumped but Riku simply flung him out of the air and onto the other side of the force field. He raised the Dark Keyblade over Sora's head.

"Sora look out!" Kairi's voice rang through Sora's head. Sora whipped around and blocked the strike with his Olympia.

"I will never let you have Kairi's heart!" Sora shouted and raised the Olympia. Riku and Sora ran at each other and Keyblade met Keyblade creating a wave of electricity from the point where they met. Sora spun around and blocked one of Riku's strikes and struck as well but Riku dodged.

Riku used powerful strikes, forcing Sora to take a step back with every attack. Sora dodged the last swipe and struck at Riku's side but Riku blocked. They both swung their Keyblades with everything they had and were dead even as they entered a fierce stalemate.

"Let Riku go!" Sora shouted.

"I'd rather not, I like having a Keyblade," came Ansem's voice. Sora screamed in rage and struck at Riku's head but Riku ducked and stabbed Sora in the gut. Sora stepped back and used Cura to heal himself and ducked another strike quickly.

"Ars Arcanum!" Sora shouted and the Olympia became a blur. Sora got in two or three hits but Riku jumped back to avoid the rest of the attack. Sora moved back as well and started to gather energy for another attack.

"Strike Raid!" Sora shot off only to see Riku had duplicated his attack. The twirling Keyblades met with a great display of electricity in the air and each Keyblade returned to its owner's hand. Sora and Riku were soon locked in close range combat once again with neither showing signs of slowing down.

Riku raised his hand and a bolt of magical energy ripped through the ground and hit Sora on his chest. Sora grabbed his chest in pain and slowly got to his feet and had to raise the Olympia at once as Riku struck again. He stabbed at Riku but Riku spun in the other direction. Sora predicted this and swung the Olympia in a wide arc and struck Riku in his side, knocking him to the ground.

"You know what?" Ansem spoke through Riku again. "Though you are not the true Keyblade Master you are doing quite well."

"Who the true Keyblade Master is has nothing to do with this!" Sora shouted back.

"Come now. That Keyblade was meant for Riku and you know it. Had the boy not embraced the darkness the Keyblade would have been his."

"Maybe, but now it is mine! I will not allow you to take it from me!"

"I can't take it from you! That is why I needed Riku for only a Keybearer can even hold a Keyblade. That is why only you and Riku can hold the Keyblade at all. You're both Keybearers!" Riku slammed the Dark Keyblade down on the Olympia but Sora did not stagger and kept a strong hold on it.

"Fira!" Sora shouted and hit Riku in the chest and he went flying back. Sora used the time to use Cura on himself. Riku cured his chest and side and they stared each other down once more.

They were upon each other once more as quick as lightning. The Keyblades met in another struggle for strength. Riku broke off and swiped at Sora's head. Sora ducked and swung his leg around, knocking Riku to the ground.

Despite curing themselves they were both covered in blood and the platform they fought on had cracks and craters all over. They jumped at each other and Sora moved away as Riku struck. Sora slammed the Olympia into Riku's gut and blasted him away with a powerful Thundara.

"You shouldn't play with electricity!" Ansem laughed and Riku launched another powerful electric blast that ripped through the ground again.

"Aerora!" Sora shouted and the shield came to life just in time. Sora was still thrown back but the blow was lessened. Sora and Riku got a running start and the Olympia crashed into the Dark Keyblade once again. Riku pushed the Keyblades away and socked Sora with a right across the face.

Sora brought his head back and stared at Riku's grin for a second and then punched him in the jaw making Riku's head snap back. Riku got back to his senses and blue energy surrounded him as he started floating in the air.

"Now you shall fall Keybearer!" Ansem shouted. "You shall now face my ultimate attack! Prepare to suffer!"

"No thanks!" Sora charged his own attack. "Ragnarok!" Sora launched himself into the air as the Olympia started to glow with tremendous energy. He swiped the Olympia at Riku and a great wave of energy erupted from it. Riku was hit and screamed in pain as he fell to the ground. Riku stared at Sora with great anger and in a flash of light he disappeared, Dark Keyblade falling to the ground behind him.

"Sora! You did it! You beat Riku and Ansem!" Goofy ran up to him and helped him up but Sora ignored the praise from Donald and Beast as well. His gaze fell on the Dark Keyblade and then to Kairi.

"A Keyblade that unlocks people's hearts," he said under his breath. While the other three examined the Final Keyhole Sora walked slowly over to the Dark Keyblade and picked it up from the ground. It felt the evil powers flow through it and shivered at the touch.

"Sora?" Donald turned to see Sora with the Dark Keyblade over him with the sharp end pointing straight at his heart. Sora turned to them and gave them his trademark smile before slamming the tip of the Keyblade straight into his heart.

"No!" Goofy yelled. Beast stared in complete shock. The Dark Keyblade floated out of his chest and turned into six balls of light. Each ball of light went to one of the sleeping princesses in the hallway.

"The Dark Keyblade was created by the hearts of the captive princesses," Beast said as the capsules opened and the princesses started to stir.

The form of Sora continued to fall as a ball of light flew from his chest and landed in Kairi. Kairi stirred and her eyes blinked open. She looked around, greatly confused but all thoughts left her head when she saw Sora beginning to disappear.

"Sora!" she cried and ran to him.

"Sora! No!" things seemed to go in slow motion as Donald started running toward Sora hoping against hope there could be a way to save him. Goofy couldn't move and was stuck in his spot. As Kairi reached Sora and tried to wrap her arms around him he was gone. All the worlds wept, as the second Keybearer was also lost to darkness.

"Falling, falling into darkness," Sora muttered as he plummeted through the black darkness with no end.

"Sora," Kairi muttered as tears formed in her eyes. Donald was about to cry as well but tried to hold them back as he put his hand on Kairi's shoulder.

"Ah, the final defense against the darkness is lost," the familiar deep voice chuckled and the others froze in fear. Then the true Ansem appeared. He had sliver hair that came to the small of his back and golden eyes. He had very tanned skin and wore black pants with sliver boots. He had no shirt, just a long black coat that was fastened only at the top with the Heartless crest.

"Don't take another step!" Goofy and Beast ran over to join Donald. Goofy leaned over to Donald. "Think we can take him by ourselves?"

"Don't know," Donald said as he raised his staff. Ansem chuckled again and started walking forward. He had barely taken a step when he stopped and had a look of shock on his face. A bright spirit image of the real Riku came from him and struggled against going back in.

"No! You won't use me for this!" Riku shouted.

"Riku!" Kairi yelled.

"Kairi? There's no time! Run! The Heartless are coming! Go now!" Riku shouted his warning but his spirit was pulled back inside Ansem. Beast grabbed all three of them and set off for the castle entrance. No one noticed the small Shadow that watched them.

Beast had become caught up in a battle with a bunch of Heartless and Kairi, Donald, and Goofy were now running on their own. On the way to the castle entrance Donald and Goofy explained most of the story to Kairi. They ran down the main steps to the door that led outside but Kairi stopped when she heard the Beast roar in pain.

"Kairi, come on!" Donald yelled. Kairi nodded and quickly ran down to them but a Shadow followed her down. "Get lost!" Donald hit it once on the head with his staff and Kairi noticed something familiar about the Shadow.

"Sora?" she said softly. Twenty more Shadows appeared around them and Kairi threw her arms around the Sora-Shadow. The Shadows jumped on her and Donald and Goofy couldn't get to her. "I'll protect you now Sora!"

There was a blast of golden energy and the Shadows were blown away and destroyed instantly. Kairi felt a pair of strong arms around her. She was no longer holding Sora the little Shadow but a fully restored Sora had his arms around her.

"Thanks Kairi," he said as they stood in their embrace wishing they never had to let each other go again. But it was not this way as the roar of Beast drew closer and he appeared on the top of the steps.

"Go now!" he ordered.

"There's to many Heartless! Come with us!" Sora pleaded.

"I'm not leaving without Belle! Go!" Beast told him with great authority and Sora had no choice but to comply. They ran back to the Gummi Ship and blasted off.

"So it was Ansem the whole time," Leon said as they stood in the small house back in Traverse Town.

"Yeah," Sora said, still with a tight hold on Kairi's hand as if she would disappear again if he let go.

"He used to be such a nice man," Aerith was on the verge of tears.

"I have to go back to Hallow Bastion. Riku is still there," Sora said as he finally let Kairi's hand go.

"You can't go in the way you came, the Heartless will be waiting for you," Yuffie warned them.

"Cid will know a way," Leon said. "Go talk with him." Sora nodded and left with Donald and Goofy.

"I need some fresh air," Aerith said and walked outside. A few minutes after she left one of the scariest men Kairi had ever seen walked in.

"It's time Leon," he said.

"I know Cloud," Leon grabbed his Gunblade and put it over his shoulder. It was time for them to search for Sephiroth.

"Going back!" Cid yelled so loud Sora had to lean back a little. "You crazy, kid? The place will be swarming with Heartless!"

"If I don't go back to Hallow Bastion, Ansem will have control over Riku forever and I can't allow that," Sora said, still firm in his decision.

"Fine. But you can't go in the way you did before. You go to Leon's training area and there will be a moon mural on the far wall. I put something there just for this occasion. Never though you'd get it, kid."

"Thanks gramps," Sora smiled and headed for the tunnel.

Sora emerged from the water in the tunnel to find Kairi already standing there. He climbed up to her. Goofy went to climb up but Donald grabbed his shoulder.

"Hey Kairi," Sora said as he stepped up to her. "How'd you get here?"

"Yuffie showed me the way," Kairi said and stared at the moon mural Cid had mentioned on a far wall.

"When I was a Heartless, I was falling in darkness. I started forgetting things like my family and friends. Then a light broke through. You're light Kairi."

"Your welcome," Kairi held her hands behind her back. She and Sora were standing a little closer now. Their faces were inches apart.

"I need to go back to Hallow Bastion and get Riku, even if it means fighting and army of Heartless to do it."

"I want to go with you Sora."

"No!" Sora grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away slightly. "It's going to be way to dangerous!"

"Pleeeease!"

"No! I'm not taking you. I'll beat Ansem and bring Riku back and then things can go back to the way they were before."

"Do you think it could ever be the same? After what Riku's done?"

"Riku was drawn into darkness little by little until it took him completely. I will save him from that darkness."

"Take this," Kairi handed Sora a small object, a Keychain. "But it's my lucky charm so you better bring it back!"

"I will. I promise," Sora placed the new Keychain on. The hilt now had two angel wings around it. There were two blades and both were the same brilliant white color that gleamed even in the dark tunnel. The key part was a very intricate oriental design. "I'll call this the Oathkeeper." Sora examined it.

"Bring it back Sora. And remember Sora, I'll always be with you," Kairi sniffled as she almost cried. Sora nodded and with a fierce look of determination walked over to the moon mural. He placed his hand on it and it changed from the moon to the sun and a Gummi Block came floating out.

"This Gummi Block will create a warp that will put you directly behind Hallow Bastion and you can sneak in that way," Cid said as he finished installing it.

"Thanks," was all Sora said as he, Donald, and Goofy climbed into the ship and blasted back off to Hallow Bastion.

"Good luck, kid," Cid said as he lit another cigarette. "I'm getting to old for this."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy snuck through Hallow Bastion as quiet as they could. They stopped to look around a corner when someone placed a hand on Goofy's shoulder and Goofy screamed and whipped around.

"Quiet!" Beast ordered. "The princesses are waiting for us, this way." Beast led them through the castle. They eventually ended up in the room they fought Maleficent in. The portal to the Final Keyhole was still there and the six princesses stood around. Some Sora knew some he didn't.

"Sora!" Jasmine hugged him tightly. Sora waved to Alice who stood behind Jasmine and there were four women Sora didn't know. He soon learned them to be Snow White, Aurora, Cinderella, and the one standing next to Beast was Belle.

"Keybearer, Ansem has gone," Cinderella said. "He was pulled into the Final Keyhole and engulfed by darkness, but he is far from dead."

"Then I'll have to finish him myself," Sora said as the Oathkeeper appeared in his hands. Donald, Goofy, and Beast stood behind him. He walked through the portal and saw the Final Keyhole.

"What is that?" Sora pointed to a small object on the ground. It was a small black Keychain lying in the same place the Dark Keyblade had disappeared. When Sora picked it up he could feel evil energy running through it. He placed it in his pocket, not wanting to use it and walked up to the Keyhole.

"This is it Sora," Goofy said and patted Sora on the back. Sora nodded and walked up to the Keyhole and held up his Keyblade but nothing happened.

"That's not the Keyhole," Sora said. "That's the entrance to the Keyhole." He walked up to the Heartless crest and placed his hand on it as the darkness spewed out. He was suddenly inside the crest. It was completely black with the golden Keyhole shining not to far away. He laughed as Donald, Goofy, and Beast landed in a heap on the ground behind him.

"Let's just finish this!" Donald screamed as they started walking toward the Keyhole. There was a loud rumbling, almost knocking them completely off their feet. A large creature even bigger than the Dragon appeared before them. It was a mixture of different shades of purple with two horns coming from the sides of its mouth and a horn coming from its head.

"A Behemoth!" Goofy yelled before Sora could Scan it.

"Behemoths are ancient monsters that are extremely powerful! Ansem must have resurrected one! Look!" he pointed to the large Heartless crest on the Behemoth's large chest.

"Then let's make them ancient again!" Sora yelled as he summoned the Oathkeeper to his side and ran forward. He moved to the side to avoid a large foot stomping down on him and brought the Oathkeeper into the foot.

The Behemoth didn't seem to notice however and leaned down so he was face to face with Sora and with a roar it generated a powerful wind that blew Sora back, almost out of the room.

"I don't believe it will be that easy my friend," Beast said with a grin. Despite their situation Sora grinned back and stood with the Oathkeeper ready. Goofy had rammed into one of the Behemoth's feet but was knocked back like Sora had been. Donald used a Thundara and even though it seemed to affect the Behemoth a little it still shrugged the blow off.

"Magic," Sora said as he saw that at least magic had some affect. Sora looked all over the Behemoth for some kind of weak point. And soon he found it. The horn on the top of its head was glowing with blue energy. He ran as fast as he could to the back of the Behemoth.

Goofy and Beast used physical attacks and Donald kept firing magic but there was still very little affect. The Behemoth reared back and when he slammed back on the ground there was a great shock wave that knocked them back.

"Fira!" Sora shouted from his perch on the back of the Behemoth's head and the magic attack hit the horn and the Behemoth let out a terrible roar and tried as hard as it could to throw Sora off of its head.

"Sora! Second level magic won't cut it!" Donald yelled and dodged another attack from the Behemoth. Sora thought about what Donald said. Could he pull off a third level spell? Only one way to find out. He started to gather energy inside the Oathkeeper and he felt the magic swell up inside him. Yes! He did it!

"Firaga!" Sora shouted and a giant fireball launched from the tip of his Oathkeeper. The fireball slammed into the horn on the Behemoth's head and completely destroyed it as soon as they connected. The Behemoth let out a roar and exploded in a great burst of black smoke.

"Sora!" Goofy yelled as he ran and caught Sora out of the air. "You can rest now Sora! We won!"

"Not yet," Sora said as he breathed hard. "I need to seal the Keyhole." Sora refused help walking as he walked in front of the Keyhole. He raised the Oathkeeper and the familiar beam of light hit the Keyhole and it clicked shut.

"Sora, you did it," Leon's voice came from back in the other room. Sora and the others walked out to him to see Aerith and Yuffie there too. Sora had noticed that Cloud seemed to not want to meet with Aerith so it was clear he was not there.

"Cid couldn't make it," Yuffie told him. "He's back at Traverse Town getting the rest of our things."

"Sora, you need to beat Ansem," Aerith said. "That is the only way this nightmare can truly end."

"And by beat…" Leon started in a quiet but firm voice. "We mean kill. This may be the last time we ever see each other."

"What do you mean? After we beat Ansem we can come visit you guys in the Gummi Ship, right?" Sora said hopefully.

"No," Aerith had her head down. "After Ansem is defeated the walls that separated the worlds before will return."

"Don't worry!" Yuffie said with her usual upbeat attitude. "Even if we never see each other again, I couldn't forget you even if I try!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sora turned to her.

"You deserve to have this Sora," Aerith handed Sora several papers. "It's Ansem's Report 2,4,6, and 10. The first page still seems to be missing."

"It's time Sora," Leon said. Yuffie nodded and grabbed Leon's hand in hers. "Go beat Ansem and don't let anything stop you." Sora could only nod his head and motioned for Goofy and Donald to follow him. They walked through the rest of the castle that was now devoid of Heartless. It was time to end this journey.


	17. Olympus Coliseum Hades Cup

Chapter 16

Olympus Coliseum-Hades Cup

Sora didn't know where to go. They had been sitting in the Gummi Ship circling around Hallow Bastion with no clue where Ansem was.

"Guys!" Phil's voice came over the intercom. "We need your help here! Hades has taken over and is holding his own tournament! If you're not here in half an hour he's going to kill Herc!"

"Step on it!" Sora ordered and Goofy stomped his foot on the gas and they were off.

"Phil! Hercules!" Sora shouted as he tore through the worried crowd of people and ran up to the coliseum with Donald and Goofy. On top of the coliseum stood Hades with a beaten Hercules at his feet and Phil knocked out on the ground.

"Good! You made it!" Hades shouted. "This is it Keybearer! I'm going to prove once and for all who the most powerful warrior is!"

"Hold it right there Hades!" the crowd parted behind Sora and Cloud ran through with Leon and Yuffie close behind him.

"We won't let you take this world!" Leon shouted out to him.

"The Keyhole may be locked but I don't need the Heartless to deal with all of you losers! I'll crush you all!" Hades laughed. "You will all enter my tournament! Not only will you face each other but some of my friends as well!" From behind Hades came two large forms. One was a resurrected Cerberus and one Sora had never seen before. He was probably 150 feet tall and engulfed everything else. His body was made of rock entirely and he had two heads.

"What is that?" Leon asked in concern.

"This is the Rock Titan! He will crush you all!" Hades laughed again. "Now let me announce the match ups for this tournament!" Hades came down and stopped in front of a large board. "First will be Sora, Donald, and Goofy vs. Yuffie!"

Sora summoned the Oathkeeper to his side as he faced Yuffie down with Donald and Goofy readying their weapons as well.

"We don't have to fight," Yuffie said.

"Yes we do," Sora told her. "Only the strongest of us should face the Rock Titan and if you beat us then you deserve to go on and face him."

"I guess," Yuffie said as she pulled out her ninja stars.

"Hades!" Cloud and Leon ran up to the God of the Underworld. "We have a preposition for you!"

"What is that? Hurry, time is death," Hades smirked.

Donald and Goofy stood in front of Sora as the battle was set to begin. Donald turned toward Sora.

"I want you to leave this fight to us Sora," Donald said and Goofy nodded.

"You're stronger than both of us and we want you to save your strength for the battles coming up," Goofy told him. Sora was about to protest the idea but decided to just go along with his friends' wishes.

Donald ran at Yuffie with Goofy behind him. Yuffie jumped away and avoided a Blizarra but Goofy smashed into her with his shield. Yuffie flipped in midair and landed on her feet and tossed a star at Donald. Donald dodged it and used Aerora on himself. Goofy ran at Yuffie but Yuffie was much too quick and leapt away.

Donald fired two Firagas at Yuffie. Yuffie managed to dodge the first but the second slammed into her and she was launched backwards. Goofy was behind her before she hit the ground and slammed his shield into her, sending her forward and crashing through the ground.

Donald used a Blizarra but Yuffie jumped away at the last second. She ran forward with great speed and delivered a powerful uppercut to Donald. Goofy was right behind her and brought his shield down but Yuffie back flipped over him.

"Rocket!" Goofy yelled while Yuffie was in the air and he slammed into her. Yuffie was launched into the air and crashed down hard into the ground. Leon was quick to run out into the arena and help Yuffie up.

"Donald and Goofy win!" Hades shouted. "Now for the next match! It will be Sora, Donald, and Goofy taking on Cloud and Leon!"

"What?" Sora yelled as Cloud and Leon stepped out together. "How are we supposed to take both of them on?"

"This is it Sora!" Leon shouted as he raised the Gunblade. "This will be our last battle! Are you ready?"

"Not really," Sora said but Leon was ahead of him and was already swiping the Gunblade at him. Sora ducked under and slammed the Oathkeeper against it. The two met in a struggle for a second before Goofy came running at them. Sora jumped away only to have to duck a strike from Cloud.

Donald and Goofy both went around Leon and Sora squared off with Cloud. Cloud's black wing emerged from his back and he flew forward at an amazing speed. Cloud brought his sword down to hit Sora but Sora already had the Oathkeeper up. Even though he blocked the strike Sora was still sent to the ground by the force of it.

Leon jumped at Donald first but Donald was ready and dove out of the way. He cast Aerora on himself and Goofy and it paid off just as Leon hit the shield that now surrounded Goofy. Goofy attacked with his shield but Leon blocked it with the Gunblade and went to plunge the blade into Goofy's stomach. But Leon was knocked away by a powerful Firaga from Donald.

Cloud and Sora were engaged in a fierce sword match. Each one blocking their opponents strikes with amazing skill. While Leon was stronger than Sora, Sora was the better swordsman of the two. But Sora was willing to bet Cloud was not only stronger but the better swordsman as well. Sora blocked another strike from Cloud and tried another attack but that was blocked as well.

Donald's Aerora spells had worn off. It was just in time for Leon as Donald felt the full force of a powerful kick to his stomach. He swung his Gunblade in a powerful arc that would have crushed Goofy but Goofy was able to lift his shield in time. Goofy came back with a quick spin of his shield to Leon's stomach. Goofy charged at Leon but Leon was too quick and leaped over him.

Sora hopped into the air and used the extra force to slam the Oathkeeper onto Cloud's Buster Sword and knocking down just a little. It was all Sora needed and with a quick thrust he slammed the Oathkeeper into Cloud's chest.

"Ars Arcanum!" Sora shouted out and was able to land several quick strikes before Cloud regained his senses and started to block them. Sora jumped back and bumped into Goofy. They turned to look at each other for a second then both ducked and the Gunblade crashed into the Buster Sword in a shower of sparks. Sora rammed his shoulder into Cloud's gut and Goofy slammed his shield into Leon's.

Leon stumbled back and was blasted by a Thundara from behind. He spun around and swiped at Donald but Donald ducked and shot a Firaga right into Leon's face but Leon moved his head to the side and it passed by harmlessly.

"Charge!" Goofy shouted and slammed into Leon and while Leon was knocked into the air Donald hit him with a few Blizzara spells. Leon landed hard but got to his feet quickly. He held his sword high into the air and it became larger like he had done in the Pegasus Cup.

Leon charged at Goofy and even though Goofy was able to keep his shield up the force of the impact sent him flying away. Donald ducked under a swing of Leon's sword but as he was coming back up Leon lifted his leg and caught Donald with his knee.

Sora and Cloud were zipping around the ring with amazing speed. Even Leon was having a hard time keeping up with them. The Buster Sword and Oathkeeper crashed into each other once more but Sora did not try to push back. Instead he ducked down and rolled under a horizontal swipe from Cloud and slammed the Oathkeeper into Cloud's side with all he had.

He was not fast enough because before the Oathkeeper hit Cloud the subject of the attack was floating in the air with his black wing flapping slightly behind. Cloud dove back to the ground and swiped down with the Buster Sword but Sora jumped to the side just in time for the attack to miss.

Leon was caught up in the battle until he felt a raging pain in his side and looked down to see Goofy had hit him with the edge of his shield and had created a deep cut in his side. Leon stared in shock at Goofy until a Firaga hit his cut and he roared in pain as Donald stepped up to him.

"I…lose," Leon muttered before his eyes closed. Donald and Goofy shook hands but had to duck as Cloud's form went flying over them with Sora running at him. Sora swiped at Cloud with all he had but Cloud blocked it with his Buster Sword. Cloud broke away and flew into the safety of the air.

"You're not getting away that easily!" Sora shouted. "Ragnarok!" Sora jumped into the air and the great wave of energy launched from his Keyblade and hit Cloud right in his chest and Cloud hit the ground.

"Winners again! What crowd pleasers they are!" Hades laughed.

"Shut up Hades!" Sora yelled. "We need to finish this!"

"Whoa! Everybody's in such a hurry now a days," Hades said. "But if you want to rush then go face your next opponent!" Hades pointed to the far end of the Coliseum and the rejuvenated Cerberus appeared.

"I figure we won't get any breaks so let's try to finish this quickly," Sora nodded to Donald and Goofy and they nodded back. Sora ran forward with the Oathkeeper raised high above his head. He swiped at one of Cerberus's heads but it moved away and Sora had to jump to avoid another one.

Goofy brought his shield up and blocked a strike from a giant paw but he was knocked back still. He was on his feet quickly and running forward. He used Rocket and hit Cerberus on one his jaws and then used Tornado while still in the air. The attack hit the other two. While one head roared in pain Donald shot a Firaga right into it's mouth. Cerberus reared back and slammed his feet into the ground.

The shockwave knocked all three of them back. Sora rolled backwards and was the first to his feet. He ran forward a dodged a paw swipe from Cerberus and started to charge some energy.

"Sonic Blade!" he zoomed past Cerberus and tore into his side. All three of Cerberus's heads let out a terrible roar and he fell to the ground. Sora placed the tip of the Oathkeeper into the cut he made and prepared a powerful attack.

"Thundaga!" he shot off the third level Thunder spell inside of Cerberus and the demon beast was destroyed.

"Okay! That's it!" they heard Hades. "I'm taking you out right now!" Hades began to float into the air and landed in between the Rock Titan's heads. "I order you to destroy all of them!"

"Sora!" Cloud shouted and appeared next to him. "Hold on!" Cloud grabbed the back of Sora's shirt and blasted off into the air. "You're the one who needs to take out Hades! We'll handle the Rock Titan!" Cloud dropped Sora right in front of Hades.

"This is it Hades! I've had enough of you!" Sora pointed the Oathkeeper at Hades but all Hades did was laugh.

"You stupid kid! You know why I've lasted this long? Because I'm not a stupid idiot who thinks the Heartless could be controlled!" Hades' fire went from blue to red. "All those other fools were just being controlled! But the biggest difference is that you can't kill me! I am a God!"

"Will you shut up?" Sora shouted. "I'm really getting sick of you talking!" Sora ran forward with Oathkeeper raised.

"You're just another fool!" Hades raised his hand a blast of fire came from it. Sora couldn't move away and the attack sent him flying back and he almost fell off the Rock Titan but just managed to stop himself.

Leon jumped backward as the Rock Titan slammed its foot into the ground and there was a slight earthquake. Hercules had been awakened by Yuffie's Cure and was also joining the battle. Hercules grabbed the Rock Titan's foot and lifted with all of his amazing strength and it started to be lifted into the air.

Cloud flew down and grabbed the other side of the foot and also started to lift it. With a great heave the two tossed the Rock Titan and it fell onto its back.

"What's going on?" Hades yelled after getting off the ground. "Who could possibly make the Rock Titan fall?"

"That's not your matter right now Hades!" Sora shouted to him as he slowly got to his feet. "Your fight is with me!" Sora raised the Oathkeeper and took off the Keychain and placed it in his pocket. He pulled another Keychain out and placed it on.

The Keyblade shifted from a glowing, elegant white to bursting with darkness. Two black demon wings now surrounded the hilt that was once surrounded by angel wings. The blade was now the blackest black Sora had ever seen and had spikes sticking out of the sides. The key part was now some kind of Japanese symbol that also had spikes running along the sides.

"What the heck is that?" Hades asked in astonishment.

"Meet my new Keyblade, the Oblivion! I found the Keychain at Hallow Bastion where the Dark Keyblade once rested," Sora said. His voice was different though; it had an odd edge to it.

"New Keyblade or not you will die!" Hades shouted back and launched a blast of fire. Sora only chuckled and raised the Oblivion and the fire blasted away from it. Sora laughed and ran forward.

"Strike Raid!" Sora tossed the Oblivion and it struck Hades and sent him flying back. The Oblivion returned to his hand. He walked up to the Rock Titan who was just starting to get up. He slammed the Oblivion straight into one of the Rock Titan's head and it exploded as the blade entered inside it.

"What was that?" Cloud flew up to him and Donald and Goofy came running up to him as the body of the Rock Titan crumbled away.

"Amazing," Hercules said as he walked up. "No one has ever been able to destroy a Titan before." Goofy patted Sora on the back but Sora knocked his hand away.

"I've never felt anything like this before," Sora said and he turned around. Everyone there jumped back. Sora's eyes were glowing red. "This is true power."

"Aaaahhh!" came Hades' desperate shout as he burst from the rubble his landing has caused. "You will all pay for this!" Hades shot out some more fire but everyone jumped away. Sora ran up and ducked under another stream of fire before placing his hand in front of Hades' face.

"This is the end of the line for you Hades!" Sora shouted as his hand began to glow a fierce blue color. He spotted a piece of paper sticking from Hades' robes. "The final piece of the report I presume." Sora took the page of Ansem's Report.

"Your puny magic can do nothing against me!" Hades yelled.

"You forget, the Oblivion has given me greater strength than I ever dreamed," Sora laughed as he placed his glowing blue hand in front of Hades' chest. "Blizzaga!" The third level Blizzard spell slammed against Hades' chest and the God of the Underworld shouted out in pain and landed unconscious on the ground.

"Sora!" Leon ran up to him and grabbed his shoulder. "What are you doing?"

"Firaga!" Sora blasted Leon away with a sick sneer on his face. Turning to the others standing around him, Sora raised the Oblivion.

"Enough of this!" Cloud shouted and ran forward with his Buster Sword high. The two blades clashed against each other and Sora almost went into shock when the Buster Sword sent the Oblivion flying away.

"You fool!" Sora ran and dove for the Oblivion and turned it upon Cloud once again with an enraged look. "Thundaga!" Sora blasted the attack against the unsuspecting Hercules and Yuffie and they were blown away. Cloud raised his sword again.

"No," Cloud felt Goofy's hand on his shoulder and Donald and Goofy appeared next to him.

"We'll handle him," Donald said and the two of them walked right up to Sora. Sora chuckled as he saw Donald and Goofy stepping up.

"You two?" Sora laughed. "You two aren't on the same level as I am! You would barely be able to keep up with me!"

"Blizzaga!" Donald shot off quickly but Sora spun around quickly and used the Oblivion to knock it away. Goofy was upon Sora incredibly fast and attacked with his shield, hitting Sora in the stomach. Sora growled and lashed out with the Oblivion but Goofy blocked the strike and Sora was blown away from Donald's Thundaga.

Sora was clearly angry as he stood. He rushed forward with great speed and attacked Donald but he dodged and moved back out of Sora's reach. With a great surge of power Sora produced an incredibly large Firaga and Donald was hit hard. Goofy came back in with a Tornado but Sora rolled under his attack.

The Oblivion crashed against Goofy's shield. Sora began to push against Goofy but it turned out Goofy was physically the stronger of the two and knocked the Oblivion away before plunging the shield into Sora's stomach. Sora held tightly onto his stomach as Donald launched three Firaga spells at the wound and Sora was sent to the ground.

"How?" Sora asked as he felt the blood flow from him.

"We're your friends Sora," Goofy walked up to him. "We know everything about you, even how to beat you."

"Friends?" Sora looked with a confused face. "No! No friends! Only darkness!"

"Sora!" Donald shouted. "Stop doing this! Our journey isn't over yet! We have to defeat Ansem to save everyone! For Riku and Kairi!"

"Riku? Kairi?" Sora said weakly as blood continued to pour from him. "Donald and Goofy." Sora said with a smile on his face. "Thanks for beating the crap out me, only true friends could do that."

"No problem Sora!" Goofy laughed.

"Now let's heal you," Donald said. "That will need more than Cura. Curaga!" Donald used the third level cure spell and Sora sprang back to his feet.

"Now I really now what friends do for you," Sora said when the smirk suddenly returned to his face. "They make you weak!" Sora blasted a powerful burst of magic right into Donald and Goofy's faces. He laughed and raised the Oblivion above them. "Now I will eliminate you!"

"No," came a calm and cold voice. Sora was hit hard in the back of the head and his eyes drifted close as he fell to the ground, unconscious. Sephiroth stood above Sora with his blade out.

"Get away from him!" Cloud shouted and readied his Buster Sword.

"If you wish for me to purge the boy of his darkness, let me be," Sephiroth said as he reached his hand out and placed his hand over Sora's chest. There was a small shockwave and a beam of darkness flew from Sora and up Sephiroth's arm.

"Why would you do this?" Cloud asked.

"I wish to fight the Keybearer when he has complete control over his actions," Sephiroth turned and began walking away. "I will return soon." Sephiroth was gone again but Cloud made no move to follow him and instead ran over to Sora.

"Is he okay?" Donald asked as he and Goofy stood shakily on their feet.

"He'll be fine," Hercules walked up and picked Sora off the ground. "I'm sure he just needs a bit of rest."

"Hey guys!" Yuffie shouted. "Hades is gone! He must have gotten away while we were distracted."

"That's not a problem right now," Leon said as he helped Goofy maintain his balance and Cloud did the same for Donald. "We better get these three inside."

"I did all of that?" Sora asked after they had explained everything to him. "I'm really sorry you guys."

"Everyone's alive, nothing to worry about," Leon said and Cloud nodded. Hercules was caring for Phil in the next room over. Donald and Goofy sat on Sora's bed with Leon, Cloud, and Yuffie standing around them.

"You might want that," Cloud pointed to the Oblivion resting against the wall.

"No way! What if it transfers darkness into me again?" Sora shouted.

"It won't, Sephiroth took care of that," Cloud said, saying the name Sephiroth as if it was the worst kind of poison in the world.

"Well, okay," Sora walked over and grabbed the Oblivion and to his relief nothing happened.

"I'm going to get a head start home Squall," Yuffie said as she walked out the door.

"That's Leon!" he shouted back to her.

"We better get going Sora," Goofy patted him on the back.

"You guys go, I'll be right there," Sora said and the nodded and left. Sora realized he was now alone with Leon. "Where'd Cloud go?"

"Who knows?" Leon sighed and started to leave.

"Wait," Sora grabbed his arm. "Yuffie has called you Squall before, why?" Leon turned back and sighed again.

"My real name is Squall Leonhart," he started. "The world I come from, originally, was at a time of peace thanks to me and a bunch of my friends. I was the strongest warrior in the world.

"Then the Heartless came. My friends and I fought them but there were too many. My friends counted on me but I let them down and now they're all dead. Squall Leonhart was a man who let his friends down and I swore never to do that again. So when I arrived at Hallow Bastion I changed my name to Leon."

"Wow," was all Sora could say.

"Being a hero is a burden Sora. Being the strongest there is means you are the one everyone will look to when it really counts. Try not to let them down Sora," Leon turned away and walked out the door. Sora was stunned silent for a moment but soon went out to join Donald and Goofy.


	18. Neverland The Dark Shroud

Chapter 17

Neverland 2-The Dark Shroud

"So let's go through this again," Sora said as they sat in the Gummi Ship. "We have four third level spells: Firaga, Thundaga, Blizzaga, and Curaga."

"That just leaves Gravira, Stopra, and Aerora to upgrade," Donald counted off on his fingers. "We should train up those three before we fight Ansem."

"Hey guys, what's wrong with Tinker Bell?" Goofy asked. Sora had let out all of his summons and they were hanging around but Tinker Bell was suddenly flying all over and making those jingling noises.

"I know," Genie came up to them. "I can understand all magical languages. Except Spanish, I don't get that one."

"Okay Genie, can you tell us what she's saying?" Sora rolled his eyes.

"Something about having to get back to Neverland," Genie leaned closer. "Somebody named Peter is in big trouble."

"Peter?" Donald asked. "Okay, set a course for Neverland."

Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked around Neverland but they couldn't find Peter. Tinker Bell was leading them but it seemed they were just getting even more lost.

"Guys?" Peter's voice came from above them and he flew down. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Tinker Bell," Sora waved his hand toward her. "She said something about you being in trouble."

"What? I'm not in trouble Tink," he said. Tinker Bell flew closer to him and started talking to him.

"The clock tower?" Peter asked. "Well, okay. You guys want to come along?"

"We can't fly anymore," Goofy told him.

"No problem! More fairy dust Tink!" Peter told her and Tinker Bell showered them with fairy dust then disappeared back into the Oblivion.

The four of them flew near the clock tower where Sora sealed the world of Neverland but there appeared to be nothing there.

"11:45?" Donald looked at the clock tower. "It isn't that late is it?"

"Shh," Sora held his hand out. "Did you hear that?"

"Sounded like a groan," Goofy said with his dog hearing. "Someone might be in trouble near here."

"Nobody would be on the clock tower," Peter looked around quickly as another groan filled the air but this one was much louder. A dark shape flew past him but it went by to quickly to make it out.

"Look at that!" Goofy pointed up and there was a figure that looked like he came from a nightmare. It was nothing but a black cloak with the bottom flared out and blowing around even though there was no wind. Around where there should have been a waist was a white orb. Two dead and decayed hands came from the sleeves and two yellow eyes shown from under the hood.

"What is that thing?" Peter shouted in a shaking voice. A chilling voice that shook all four of them to their core replied.

"I am Phantom," it said slowly with its voice wheezing. Faster then anyone could have though it could move Phantom burst forward and wrapped its decayed hand around Donald's throat.

"Let him go!" Goofy flew at Phantom but Phantom placed his other hand in Goofy's path and there was a powerful blast of dark energy that sent Goofy flying back.

"The clock is ticking," Phantom wheezed out the number five suddenly formed in a white light above Donald's head. Phantom released Donald and floated back.

"Enough of this!" Peter flew forward and stabbed as hard as he could with his dagger and it sunk right through Phantom's cloak. "Got you."

"No," Phantom chuckled and blasted Peter away before pulling the dagger out only to reveal Peter had simply ripped the cloth and there was nothing under it.

"That's impossible!" Sora yelled when the minute hand on the large clock suddenly went from the nine to the ten and at the same time the five above Donald's head changed to a four. "That can't be good."

Donald flew at Phantom and shot a Firaga at the white orb but the spell simply bounced off. He tried another only to the same effect.

"Fool," Phantom said and blasted Donald away. Sora flew toward Phantom and raised the Oblivion and swung it with all his strength at the orb but at the last second the orb went from white to red and the Oblivion bounced off just like Donald's spell.

"No way!" Sora gazed at Phantom when the clock changed again and Donald's number went down to three. "Stopra!" Sora cast on the clock and he heard the clicking inside slow and then stop.

"You will not interfere with the master's plan," Phantom reached out at Sora but Sora spun around and dodged it.

"Who is this master?" Sora asked.

"Master Ansem," Phantom reached for Sora again but missed. Phantom put both hands above his head a ball of light started to form there. Phantom shot the light forward and Sora was hit but instead of a blast of pain Sora felt his energy being drained.

"Hang on Sora!" Peter shouted and flew back up with Goofy right behind him. Peter spun around and landed a kick to the side of Phantom's head but there was almost no effect at all.

"Firaga!" Donald's blast came from nowhere and crashed into the red orb and the orb exploded. There was a shriek of pain from Phantom and it hunched over before the orb returned but this time it was blue.

"Nice shot Donald," Sora nodded. "I figured if the orb was red then fire might work against it. I'm betting a Blizzaga for this blue one!"

"Right!" Donald nodded back when the number above Donald suddenly changed to two and Sora looked in horror to see the clock had started again. Phantom's spell was still draining his energy and there was no way he could cast a spell now.

"Let's take this thing down!" Peter shouted to Goofy who nodded back and they flew forward and Peter stuck his dagger where the neck should have been and Goofy slammed his shield into where its stomach should be.

"Fools," Phantom said and there was a great blast of dark energy that knocked all of them back. Donald flew back up at Phantom and unleashed three Blizzaga spells but Phantom dodged them all. Donald's number went to one.

"No," Sora tried to scream out but his energy was running dangerously low and he found he was barely staying in the air now. "Ae-ae-aerora!" Sora was finally able to cast a spell no matter how weak it was and the shield appeared and blew Phantom's spell away letting Sora get his energy back.

"Time is up," Phantom said and the number turned to zero and there was a bright flash. Sora blocked the light from his eyes but when the light died down he saw Donald falling toward the ground.

"No!" Sora, Peter, and Goofy yelled at once and they all flew at him but Phantom reached out and grabbed Goofy by the back of his neck.

"Donald!" Sora shouted and he caught Donald. Sora desperately checked but it was no use. Donald was dead. "No!" Sora shouted so loud people on the streets below stared up at them.

"The clock starts again," Phantom whispered in Goofy's ear and the number five appeared above his head this time.

"Stop this!" Sora shouted up at Phantom and flew up as fast as he could, laying Donald's body on the top of the tower.

"Master Ansem's instructions," Phantom wheezed out. "Make Keybearer suffer."

"Donald! No!" Goofy flew down landed by Donald and had tears flying from his eyes as he kneeled at Donald's side.

"Not Goofy!" Sora stared in shock as he saw the number four above Goofy's head.

"I won't let you!" Peter appeared before them flying faster than any of them thought possible and started stabbing Phantom repeatedly.

"Do not interfere," Phantom muttered something else and suddenly neither Peter nor Sora could move. Sora desperately tried to cast Stopra on the clock but he couldn't even make a sound.

"Look what you've done!" Goofy shouted in rage and launched himself at Phantom, his number above his head at two. Sora struggled to move and felt the hold on him start to weaken but he could only slightly wiggle his fingers.

Goofy smashed Phantom in the side of its head with his shield and began to do it over and over. The number turned to one. Sora felt a great swell of power within him and Phantom's hold was blasted away.

"Time is up," Phantom started again.

"Stopra!" Sora shouted at the same time but it was to late. Goofy's stare went blank and he began to fall. Sora flew down and caught him as tears streamed down his face and landed on Goofy's.

"Sora! Help!" he heard Peter yell and suddenly remembered that Peter had not yet broke Phantom's hold and Phantom had flown over and wrapped his hand around Peter's neck like he hand done with Donald and Goofy.

"Not this time!" Sora yelled and flew up, placing Goofy next to Donald but stayed kneeling at his side.

"Do you concede Keybearer?" Phantom asked and floated right behind Sora.

"Blizzaga!" Sora whipped around and the spell hit the blue orb and it exploded like the red one before. Phantom shrieked even louder and the orb turned yellow.

"Forget about me?" Peter flew in and landed another kick on the side of Phantom's head but this one was so strong it sent Phantom crashing into the tower. The number above Peter's head was now a four.

"Stopra!" Sora cast on the clock and it stopped once again. He turned his eyes back to Phantom but made sure to watch the clock. Peter flew forward and brought his dagger down on the orb but it bounced off. Phantom whipped its hand out and put it over Peter's face.

"Time is up," Phantom said and the number started going from four to zero really quickly.

"Thundaga!" Sora blasted the spell forward but Phantom dodged and Sora anticipated this, making Phantom release Peter. But the number had stopped at one. Phantom faced them and the orb went from yellow back to white.

Sora flew forward and swung the Oblivion at the orb but it turned yellow once again. Sora smiled as electricity suddenly wrapped itself around the Oblivion and crashed straight through the orb. An even louder shriek from Phantom followed this.

"Good job So…" Peter was suddenly cut off as his number went to zero.

"No! The clock!" Sora shouted in desperation. "I forgot the clock!"

"Fool," Phantom said as the orb went to white once more. Sora caught Peter as he started to fall and placed him with Donald and Goofy. Sora started crying again and his tears landed on the Oblivion. There was a great blast of darkness from the Oblivion and Sora felt himself being surrounded by darkness again. Except this time it was different, this time he could control it.

"Bastard!" Sora shouted at the top of his lungs. He had never cursed once in his life but he soon felt rage taking over him, making him stronger.

"The clock begins again," Phantom reached its hand out for Sora's neck. Sora just smiled and let the dead fingers wrap around him. The number appeared above his head and Sora looked up at it and the evil smirk formed on his face. He stood still as the number counted down until it had reached number one. "Time is…"

"Stopga!" Sora blasted the tower with the third level Stop spell and it froze right before Sora's number could turn to zero.

"I will wait," Phantom said.

"You'll be waiting for a while. I predict that will last about half an hour. Plenty of time for me to destroy you!" Sora spat out with the rage forming on his face.

"Master Ansem never mentioned such power," Phantom shook his head before blasting Sora with some dark energy. Sora doubled over when it hit him but then straightened back up.

"That tickled," Sora laughed. With amazing speed Sora flew forward and slammed the Oblivion straight through the orb, as it shattered into pieces and disappeared for good this time. "Time is up."

Phantom let out a shriek ten times louder than the last three and light exploded out from his hood. Then Phantom exploded as well with great force, blowing apart one side of the tower.

"No," Sora whispered as he felt the darkness leave him and his body started to ache. He floated down to where Donald, Goofy, and Peter lay. "I can't believe they're gone. We weren't finished with our journey yet. Leon was right, I let them down!"

"Hey, what did I say about sad faces," Sora's head shot up at the sound of Donald's voice to see all three of them starting to stir.

"You're alive! You're alive!" Sora shouted out and tears began coming down his face once again.

"Yeah, so why are you crying?" Peter asked.

"Oh! No reason!" Sora wiped the tears from his eyes and forced the tears to stop. His father always taught him that men don't cry.

"Guess what," Goofy smiled. "There is a God!"

"Really?" Sora laughed as one more tear fell to the ground.

Sora, Donald, and Goofy bid goodbye to Peter and headed back to the Gummi Ship after a good rest.

"Guys!" Phil's voice came over the radio. "Help! Get back here right away! Another Titan is attacking!"


	19. Olympus Coliseum Deep Freeze

Chapter 18

Olympus Coliseum-Deep Freeze

Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran as fast as they could toward the Coliseum. They could already see the massive figure of the Titan in the distance. They burst through the door in time to see Hercules slam into the ground in front of them.

"Herc!" Sora kneeled down next to him. A large piece of ice slammed into the ground next to them. Another was coming down but Goofy knocked it away. Sora looked around to see Phil lying on the ground near them.

"What do we do now?" Goofy asked.

"Take Herc and Phil out of here," Sora told them. "I take on the Titan."

"You crazy! You can't take on a Titan by yourself!" Donald screamed.

"I won't have to beat him, just distract him until you guys get back to help me," Sora said and summoned the Oblivion to him. He ran into the Coliseum to see the huge Titan standing before him. He was even bigger than the Rock Titan but really skinny and had the head of a dragon. His body was completely made out of ice.

"Keybearer! You killed my brother!" the Titan yelled.

"Let me guess!" Sora shouted up to it. "You're the Ice Titan?"

"Of course fool!" the Ice Titan held his hand up and a large piece of ice flew from it and was headed straight for Sora. Sora jumped to the side only to be hit by another piece of ice and sent to the ground. The Ice Titan laughed and leaned down.

"Strike Raid!" Sora launched the Oblivion when the Ice Titan got close enough and it crashed right into the Ice Titan's face, taking a chunk of it off. Then more ice formed and replaced what had been destroyed.

"I am unkillable!" the Ice Titan laughed.

"That doesn't make you unbeatable!" Sora shouted back and jumped to his feet when the Oblivion returned to him. He ran from a dozen chunks of ice that crashed into the ground right behind him and dove into the stands.

The Ice Titan leaned down and opened his mouth blowing out the coldest cold Sora had ever felt before. Even though the attack hit a couple of feet behind him Sora still shook from the cold. This slowed him down and allowed one of the chunks of ice to slam into him and knock him into the wall.

"Firaga!" Sora shot of the fire spell but it just bounced away.

"I am way to resistant to magic! I am even greater than the Gods!" the Ice Titan laughed and blew a blast of cold at Sora again. Sora dove in between the Ice Titan's legs to avoid the attack. The Ice Titan brought his foot up and brought it back down to crush Sora and Sora was just able to roll out of the way.

"Come on! I may not be a God but I am the Keybearer!" Sora raised the Oblivion in challenge. "And I dare you to defeat me!"

"He's facing the Titan alone?" Cloud asked as he helped Donald and Goofy place Hercules and Phil on his bed.

"We have to get back and help him," Donald said as he pulled out his staff and started for the door.

"Hang on," Cloud stopped Donald by grabbing his shoulder. "Give him another few minutes."

"He'll be wondering where we are," Goofy told him.

"Trust me, as a warrior, the last thing he'll be thinking about during this fight is where you two are."

"Where the heck are those two?" Sora shouted as he dodged another blast of ice. The Ice Titan held up both of his hands and hundreds of small chunks of ice came from them. Sora ran behind the large sign near the entrance of the Coliseum and heard the pieces of ice slam against it and knew it wouldn't hold forever.

Sure enough after only about two minutes a part of the sign above him exploded and the ice began to smash through the edges and were closing in. Sora turned around and faced the sign as he saw the part blocking him start to tear apart.

"Stopga!" Sora shouted and the ice froze in midair. Sora used this opportunity to escape out of the range of the attack. With a great burst of adrenaline Sora ran forward and with a powerful swing, sliced off a part of the Ice Titan's leg. The Ice Titan howled in pain and began to falter. "Come on! Fall!"

"You insolent buffoon!" the Ice Titan screamed out as his other leg finally gave way and he crashed into the ground. With a cry of victory Sora ran forward and jumped on top of the Ice Titan slamming the Oblivion through the ice along the way. When he reached the Ice Titan's face he slashed straight through it, splitting his head in two.

"Who's a buffoon now huh?" Sora yelled as he hit the ground, landing on his back with the quick burst of energy gone. Then, before his very eyes, the Ice Titan's wounds started to heal. The Ice Titan stood once more and his head sealed up and he was whole once again.

"I believe you are," the Ice Titan chuckled and formed a giant chunk of ice in his end, the end forming a deadly spear ready to impale the defenseless Sora.

"Go! Now!" Cloud shouted and Donald and Goofy were instantly out the door and headed for the Coliseum.

The ice spear was launched and was heading straight for Sora. Time slowed around him as it inched closer and closer. It was only a foot above him when he got one final boost of energy and rolled backwards, barely avoiding the deadly tip.

"Why won't you die?" the Ice Titan screamed and began forming an incredible amount of giant ice spears.

"Rocket!" Goofy shot through the air and crashed right through the waist of the Ice Titan, splitting it into two. The Ice Titan growled in anger and started to reform himself right away.

"What do we have to do to put this guy down?" Donald asked as he stared in disbelief as the Ice Titan got back on his feet.

"We have to destroy him completely, there can be no piece of him left," Sora told them as ice chunks began raining from the sky. Goofy placed his shield up and ducked behind it with Donald and Sora sitting behind him.

"That might be a little tough," Goofy said as he felt his arm start to jerk around from the force of the ice.

"I have an idea," Sora said. He winced as a large chunk crashed into his shoulder and Donald cured him quickly. "But if it doesn't work we're finished."

"What is it?" Donald asked.

"You're going to kill him," Sora nodded at Donald.

"What? But how?" Donald asked with a bewildered expression.

"Goofy and I will give you all the energy and magic we have, and you'll use our combined power to launch the greatest Firaga anyone's ever seen," Sora said with a grin on his face.

"That will never work!" Donald shouted.

"Let's do it," Goofy grinned as well. Sora and Goofy placed their hands on Donald's chest and they started to glow. Goofy and Sora both gave Donald a thumbs up as they fell asleep. Donald had to jump away quickly to avoid the ice but was soon out of range and preparing his attack.

"You have no chance duck!" the Ice Titan laughed. Donald held up his staff and red energy blasted around him.

"Firaga!" Donald shouted out and launched the attack. The fireball was as big as the Ice Titan himself and the earth shook as it connected with its target.

"No! This cannot be!" the Ice Titan shouted as pain overtook him and he was incinerated instantly. And with that, Donald fell asleep. At this point the fallen Oblivion started to glow with a blue light and Genie emerged from it, looking around nervously.

"We must get back to Agrabah."


	20. Agrabah Duel in the Desert

* * *

Chapter 19

Agrabah 2-Duel in the Desert

"So Genie, tell us again why we have to go to Agrabah?" Sora asked as they flew through space toward Aladdin's world.

"Remember Phantom?" Genie asked and only got looks in return. "Okay, dumb question. I think Phantom was created by Ansem to either defeat you or slow you down."

"I figured that much," Sora nodded.

"I think he created another creature like that and I think he placed it in Agrabah."

"So there's another Phantom in Agrabah?" Goofy asked.

"No, it's just as powerful but it's something different."

* * *

Unlike before when Sora, Donald, and Goofy were the only ones on the empty streets, the Market Place was now filled with people buying various things. 

"I think we should have just left the Heartless here," Sora joked. Donald looked at him and wasn't sure if he should laugh or scowled Sora.

"There it is," Goofy pointed out Aladdin's house and they fought through the crowd to get to it. They climbed into it but Aladdin was nowhere to be seen. The carpet was lying in the corner, seemingly sleeping.

"What are you guys doing here?" Aladdin's voice came and they turned to see him behind them with a small monkey on his shoulder.

* * *

"So this creature should be somewhere in the desert?" Aladdin asked as he fed his monkey, Apu, some food. "That doesn't really narrow it down." 

"We were thinking somewhere near the Cave of Wonders," Sora suggested. "But we're not entirely sure."

"It's worth a try," Aladdin shrugged and the carpet flew over them. They all hopped on the carpet and the carpet flew out into the desert.

* * *

The carpet flew along, the riders scanning the desert searching for anything out of the ordinary. There was an eruption of sand in front of them and it forced the carpet off its path and threw the four of them to the ground. They stood up as quickly as they could and caught sight of what came up from the sand. 

It was big, very big. Its legs were normal and about the size of an average man. Its torso looked like a shell, protecting its real body. He had six long arms coming from its sides, three from each side and each one holding a deadly looking scimitar. Its head was that of a large cobra and its entire body was sand-colored.

"Greetings Keybearer and friends," the creature said in a snake-like voice, hissing it s. "My name is Kurt Zisa and Master Ansem has ordered your destruction!"

"Of course he has," Sora sighed as he summoned the Oblivion. He started to power up a Thundaga spell. Kurt Zisa laughed and its two middle arms started glowing and two orbs of energy appeared in his hands. "Thundaga!" Sora fired the spell but it didn't appear. He tried again but he couldn't use his magic.

"Give up fool," Kurt Zisa laughed. "As long as I hold these two orbs you can't use any magic at all!" Sora let out a small growl and lunged forward with the Oblivion raised. Kurt Zisa used one of its arms to block his attack and its other three blocked attacks from Donald, Goofy, and Aladdin.

Kurt Zisa's top two arms started spinning really fast and they had to jump away but Donald was caught on his shoulder. He tried to cast Curaga but then remembered that he couldn't use magic. Goofy ran forward and went to ram his shield into Kurt Zisa but it crossed its four arms over its chest and formed a shield that Goofy bounced off.

Aladdin ran forward and blocked a strike from the top arm and then deflected a strike from the bottom one and then flipped sideways to avoid a third. Kurt Zisa'a torso was left open and he jammed his scimitar at it but it was too hard to be penetrated. Aladdin quickly back flipped away and out of danger.

Sora took a turn and ran at Kurt Zisa and at the last minute jumped as high as he could and vaulted over its head and landed behind it. While Kurt Zisa was turning around Sora brought the Oblivion down and slashed straight through the orb on the left and it was destroyed.

"You'll pay for that!" Kurt Zisa yelled as a scimitar replaced the orb and he slashed at Sora. Doing this, Kurt Zisa turned his back on the others just long enough for Aladdin to rush forward and slash through the other orb.

"Curaga!" Donald was finally able to cure himself and he let out a sigh of relief. Kurt Zisa snarled at Aladdin and soon realized they had surrounded it on each side. With a laugh Kurt Zisa held up all six of his hands and six balls of fire came from them. They were slow moving but looked powerful.

"That's an attack?" Sora almost laughed. "That's way too slow to hit us." Sora ran at Kurt Zisa and easily dodged the fireball but just as he was closest to it, it exploded with great force and Sora was thrown through the air and slammed down hard into the ground, bouncing a few times.

The remaining fireballs exploded and sent the other three flying as well. They got back to their feet to see Kurt Zisa floating a few feet off the ground and a green sphere suddenly surrounded it. Goofy ran forward and drew his shield back before smashing it into the sphere but he was thrown back as some kind of blast came from it.

"Nothing can penetrate my shield!" Kurt Zisa laughed as it launched some more fireballs at Donald, Goofy, and Aladdin. But for Sora it placed its arms forward and six small tornados about twice Sora's size formed around him. The tornados closed in on Sora and he was soon caught up inside them. Sora was thrown into the air by the tornados and landed right above the fireballs and they all exploded sending him through the air once again and he slammed hard into the ground. He tried to push himself up but he dropped back down, unconscious.

"If we can't penetrate his shield we have to destroy it!" Aladdin yelled. Goofy and Donald rushed forward as Kurt Zisa was slowly moving toward Sora with all its scimitars raised in the air.

"Thundaga!" Donald shot the spell forward and to his surprise Kurt Zisa was hit by the attack and thrown back. The shield started to flicker but stood steady.

"Good job Donald! We'll need more of that!" Goofy said. Donald was way ahead of him and was already charging up a powerful Thundaga to destroy the shield. Aladdin distracted Kurt Zisa as Goofy ran to Sora and picked him up, placing him a fare distance away to keep him safe.

"Thundaga!" Donald launched the powerful attack and Kurt Zisa'a shield was blown away and finally destroyed.

"You will not defeat me!" Kurt Zisa yelled in fury and suddenly flattened itself into a disk with its arms sticking out and his scimitars forming some kind of razor blade. It started spinning really fast becoming like a large buzz saw. Aladdin dove away as it flew down toward him but the blades tore into his torso.

"Curaga!" Donald cast on Aladdin but had to duck as it flew over him.

"Donald!" Goofy yelled. "Can you get it to stay on the ground?" Donald shrugged and went over his spells in his head.

"Graviga!" Donald launched the third level Gravity spell and caught Kurt Zisa in it and it crashed into the ground.

"Charge!" Goofy shouted and launched himself forward and crashed straight through Kurt Zisa, destroying it. Goofy hit the ground and lay there. They would need a good rest after this.

* * *

After saying their goodbyes to Aladdin our three heroes climbed back into the Gummi Ship when Phil's voice came over the radio. 

"Oh, not again," Sora dropped his head into his hands.

"Sora! There's some guy here that wants a match with you! He's threatening to kill everyone if you don't show up! Says his name is Sephiroth!"

* * *

Author's Note- I know what you're thinking: Gasp! An update! The end of the world is upon us! Well I'm sorry for the two month delay but I had some...complications. Add together one month of writer's block and another month of computer troubles and you get two months of no update. So as a way to say sorry the next update will have not one but two chapters! Including one with everybody's favorite One Winged Angel. A warning, due to Sephy's evil nature the next chapter will be pretty graphic. Those with weak stomachs may want to just skip it. (Though it's going to be one hell of a fight!)

Until next time, this is the Prince saying, Love and Peace! (I don't own the anime Trigun or any of its catchphrases.)


	21. Olympus Coliseum One Winged Angel

Chapter 20

Olympus Coliseum-One Winged Angel

Sora didn't know the Gummi Ship was capable of traveling at such high speeds but Goofy must have been pushing it incredibly fast when the Coliseum came into view. They got out of the ship and ran as fast as they could into the Coliseum. There stood a shaking Phil.

"Where is he?" Sora asked. He noticed the seats were full of spectators but everyone was looking around nervously.

"He said he's got some business to attend to," Phil said. "But he said he would be back very soon."

"Why don't we get these people out of here?" Goofy asked but Phil shook his head quickly.

"He set up some type of shield. People can come in, but they can't go out."

* * *

Hades was sulking around the Underworld, blasting away random spirits with blasts of fire. He scowled and got to his feet.

"That's a very childish way to act," Sephiroth's chilling voice came from behind him and Hades whipped around.

"What do you want?" Hades shouted.

"I'm battling the Keybearer," Sephiroth calmly sat in Hades' thrown. "And it would be best for you not to interfere."

"You can't order me around!" Hades shouted and he shot a stream of fire at Sephiroth that would have knocked Sora out. Sephiroth laughed and pushed the attack away with a simple wave of his hand.

"God or not," Sephiroth turned serious and grabbed Hades by the throat. "I will kill you if you interfere. And I came to get my sword."

"You have your sword!" Hades pointed to the blade strapped to Sephiroth's side.

"No, my real sword," Sephiroth glared at a suddenly shocked Hades. "Yes, I know Ansem saw me as a threat. I know when the Heartless destroyed my world and sent me here you were ordered to remove my sword and replace it with an exact replica. But I tell you my blade cannot be replicated."

"You're crazy!" Hades shouted to him.

"My sword was forged by the greatest sword smith who ever lived and it is the most powerful weapon in existence. I can certainly tell when I have it and when I don't. So give me my sword!" Sephiroth shouted in rage and snapped the replica in half.

"Fine," Hades snapped his fingers and Sephiroth's true sword appeared.

"It is called the Masamune and my key to victory."

"You're wrong," Hades whispered. "The Keyblade is the greatest weapon there is and Ansem will take that power for himself. He possessed that boy just to hold one but still was defeated by the true Keyblade's power."

"What makes you think there is only one true Keyblade?" Sephiroth asked and laughed at the look on Hades' face. In a flash, he was gone.

* * *

Sora stared hard at the area in front of him when it exploded with red light. There was some kind of oriental design in the sky with a great red beam came forth from it and slammed hard into the ground. When it was gone there was the figure left kneeling on the ground. There he was, silver hair, black wing, and all.

Sephiroth stood and turned around his gaze finally falling on Sora and the corners of his mouth turning up into a grin.

"It is time Keybearer," Sephiroth said quietly. Sora summoned the Oblivion to his side and prepared to fight.

"You can't keep these people here!" Sora tried to sound defiant but his voice was shaking. "Let them go."

"The people? But why? They seem to be on my side," Sephiroth waved his hand toward the crowd and Sora saw they were all on their feet, their eyes glazed over, and they were chanting something.

* * *

"Estuans interious ira vehemoti," the people chanted. Cloud stood in the stands, he was seemingly the only one not affected by Sephiroth's spell. Even Donald and Goofy were chanting now.

"This can't be happening," Cloud muttered as he started moving through the stands, they were still chanting the horrible chant.

"Estuans interious ira vehemoti, Sephiroth. Sors immanis et inanis. Sors et inanis, Sephiroth. Veni, veni, venias no me mori facias. Veni, veni, venias no me mori facias, Sephiroth."

* * *

Sora was the first to attack, he raised the Oblivion and ran forward and swiped at Sephiroth but faster than he could have imagined Sephiroth had his Masamune out and his strike was blocked. Sora brought the Oblivion around in a horizontal arc but Sephiroth blocked once again.

Quicker than lightning, Sephiroth lunged forward and cut deeply into Sora's stomach, sending him to the ground in pain. Sora cured himself and was back on his feet but barely avoided another strike that went past him. Sora tried to block Sephiroth's next attack but the strength behind it sent Sora flying back again. Sora struggled to get to his feet and held the Oblivion up, knowing it wouldn't do much.

* * *

Cloud pushed his way through the dazed crowd until he got to the ring and tried to jump onto it but there was a shield there stopping him. He pulled out the Buster Sword and began hacking away at it but the shield held firm.

"No!" Cloud slammed the Buster Sword against the shield one last time but it still held fast. "Sora! Hang on! I'll find a way to help you!"

* * *

Sephiroth held his blade at his side and began a painfully agonizingly slow walk toward Sora. Sora dropped into a defensive stance and watched for any sudden movement. Sephiroth swung the Masamune and because it had such long reach Sora would not be able to strike back. He dropped and rolled forward and brought the Oblivion back to get a slash into Sephiroth's side.

Sephiroth raised his left hand quickly and a great pillar of flame burst up from the ground and Sora cried out in pain form the intense heat. Not even a blast from Hades was this hot. Sora tried to dive away but the flame was too wide and he couldn't escape the attack. He hit the ground as the flame disappeared.

"I figured there would be more of a challenge than this Keybearer," Sephiroth leaned down on one knee. Sora struck incredibly quickly, even quickly enough to catch Sephiroth off guard and cut through his side.

"How about that?" Sora asked as he used Curaga.

"You will soon be feeling sorry you didn't stay down," Sephiroth growled and cured himself as well.

"Then I'll need defense," Sora smiled and powered up his spell. "Aeroga!" He shouted and the shield of wind came to life around him. He had finally learned all of the third level spells.

"Interesting," Sephiroth said and took the glove off his left hand and placed his hand through the shield, making several deep cuts appear all over it. He healed it before slipping his glove back on. "Sharp wind."

"Ars Arcanum!" Sora suddenly shouted and his arms became a blur but Sephiroth had the Masamune up and he blocked every single strike. "Impossible!" Sora yelled as the attack died down.

"Prepare for defeat Keybearer!" Sephiroth shouted and lifted both hands high into the air making several meteors appear out of thin air. Sora stood back and awaited any kind of move Sephiroth would make. The meteors suddenly flew forward and straight at Sora. Sora tried to dodge them but was only able to dodge two as the others crashed into him with fierce power.

"Strike Raid!" Sora jumped back to his feet and launched the Oblivion toward Sephiroth but Sephiroth deflected it with the Masamune. He almost felt like crying. He had sent some of his best attempts at Sephiroth but nothing had proved successful.

"You just prolong your defeat Keybearer," Sephiroth said quietly. Sora ignored his words and stood on his now wobbling legs.

"I will not be defeated by you," Sora said even quieter than Sephiroth but there was an unmistakable edge. A determination to win that no one could destroy.

"We shall see!" Sephiroth started for Sora again but instead of a slow walk he was now sprinting forward.

"Sonic Blade!" Sora was propelled forward with untold speed and just as the attack was about to hit there was a flash and Sephiroth was gone. Sora stopped and looked around but there was no trace of the insanely powerful man. First there was searing pain and then an earsplitting scream as Sora felt the cold metal tear through his back.

Sephiroth had appeared behind Sora and sliced deeply into his back cutting through bone and flesh, almost having the blade come out the other side. Sephiroth sneered and brought the Masamune up fully prepared to deliver the finishing blow. There was a green light and Sora was healed once again, quickly rolling away as Sephiroth's blade struck where Sora's head had been a split second before.

* * *

Cloud grinned in the dazed crowd. He had not been sure if his healing spell would penetrate the shield Sephiroth had put up but luckily it had. But he still needed a way to end this fight and get Sephiroth away from Sora.

* * *

"You should have died where you lay stupid boy," Sephiroth said with a slight growl behind it. "Then I wouldn't have done this to you." He started to be surrounded by some type of red energy.

"I won't let you!" Sora rushed forward and swung the Oblivion at Sephiroth but a fierce wind picked up and it was strong enough to blow Sora away. Then a red halo appeared over Sora's head.

"Sin Harvest!" Sephiroth shouted in a fierce and chilling voice and it happened. Sora stopped in his tracks and red energy swirled around him. He let out a scream so loud a few people may have been awakened from Sephiroth's spell. The slash in his back felt like a tickle compared to this attack.

It felt as if every sin Sora had ever committed from the moment he was born until now suddenly jumped from his body and brutally murdered him a thousand times each. He fell to the ground, unable to even try to break his fall. He was not dead but he was praying to God that he could be. Sephiroth shook his head. He disliked that attack. Even someone as evil as himself wished it didn't exist. He slowly walked up to Sora.

"My apologies," Sephiroth whispered. "No one deserves that." He closed his eyes for a second and then brought the Masamune up. "Let me ease your pain." Sora couldn't think straight. Sephiroth was about to kill him and he only wished he would hurry.

* * *

"Oh God no," Cloud held his head down. "I must do something!" Cloud looked around as if one of the chanting people would give him the answer and then it hit him. He held his hands out and transferred all of his energy to Sora.

* * *

Sephiroth brought the Masamune down but the Oblivion was up faster than Sephiroth could have imagined and the attack was blocked.

"Impossible!" Sephiroth screamed as Sora got to his feet. Sora stared at him with the Oblivion shining with energy and an attack came to mind.

"Omnislash!" Sora shouted and he flew forward with the Oblivion set to strike.

"Cloud," Sephiroth muttered as the Oblivion met its target. Sora slashed Sephiroth a total of thirteen times in a little over a second before jumping back and pointing the Oblivion at Sephiroth and a great beam of energy burst forth and slammed into Sephiroth and sent him flying backwards and hitting the ground hard.

"Whoa," Sora muttered as the attack ended. Sephiroth was sprawled on the ground and he was left standing. "I won."

"Not bad Keybearer," Sephiroth began to stand but dropped down to one knee. "I will release my hold on the crowd and leave you be. There may just be hope for you yet." With that he was gone in a flash of light and the audience started blinking and looking around. The battle was over.

* * *

"So I won't be able to use the Omnislash again?" Sora asked Cloud as they went to board the Gummi Ship, Donald and Goofy not remembering a thing.

"No, it's my attack," Cloud told him as he turned around. "You were good out there today Sora but not good enough. I never did expect you to win and technically you didn't but Sephiroth could have easily killed you."

"I won. Shouldn't that be the important thing?" Sora asked.

"No. The important thing is to remember that you will never be the strongest. There will always be someone there. When you've surpassed everyone you know someone stronger will always rise to challenge you. Remember this Sora and never for a second believe you're the strongest."

"That sounds negative. I think I should be a positive person, you know?"

"If you find yourself believing you're the strongest then you will stop training and grow weak. It's not the brightest thing to think about but it's true."

"I guess."

"Oh, and one more thing," Cloud turned to face Sora and for the first time there was a smile on his face. "Beat Ansem. I know you can."

"Thanks Cloud," Sora shook his hand and boarded the Gummi Ship. Their course was set. It was time to end their journey. It was time to end it all.


	22. Showdown of Fate

Interlude

Showdown of Fate

It was night in the Coliseum as Cloud walked into the ring. A single black feather fell to the ground and Sephiroth appeared before him.

"Welcome Cloud," Sephiroth said.

"I must kill you," Cloud said. "You are the darkness that plagues me and I cannot allow it to continue."

"It's been a long time since our last battle," Sephiroth smirked. "I've grown stronger in that time and I believe you have too."

"You've seen my power," Cloud told him.

"Oh please! If you mean when you fought the Keybearer I noticed you never even used over half of your power!"

"That's something Sora's not ready for."

"Fight me Strife!" Sephiroth and Cloud both drew their swords. The entire coliseum started to shake and energy sparked to life around them. Sephiroth glowed with blue energy and Cloud with red. Broken rubble and pieces of the ring were rising into the air as the two most powerful warriors were set to strike.

* * *

"Whoa!" Leon yelled as he felt the amazing energy. "That feels like Cloud and that Sephiroth guy! How can I feel them from here?"

"I told you before!" Yuffie shouted at him. "Cloud and Sephiroth are on an entire different level that we could never hop to achieve!"

"What can we do?"

"Sit here and pray they don't rip the universe apart," Yuffie lowered her head and Leon sighed.

* * *

Cloud and Sephiroth leaped at each other with black wings growing from their backs as they went. Their swords met in a shower of sparks from the force of the blow behind the blade. They both suddenly launched themselves into the air and were soon flying away from each other.

Sephiroth vanished for a second and reappeared behind Cloud and slammed his elbow into Cloud's head and sent him crashing into the ground, the ring destroyed from the great impact. Cloud stood without a scratch and launched at Sephiroth again.

Sephiroth spun in the air to avoid Cloud's first strike and quickly turned around only to receive a boot to the face from Cloud. While Sephiroth was reeling back Cloud planted a powerful punch into Sephiroth's stomach and almost made the powerful warrior fall out of the air.

Blade crashed against blade once again and storm clouds started to gather overhead. A bolt of lightning crashed into the ground not far from them but neither even seemed to notice the brewing storm. Cloud ducked another strike and tore into Sephiroth's side with his Buster Sword.

Sephiroth healed himself and flew away from another of Cloud's attacks. They stared each other down as rain started to pour down. They were soon drenched and both not moving. Cloud's hair fell in front of his eyes and he waited for Sephiroth to make his move.

He wouldn't wait long as Sephiroth flew forward and slashed at Cloud. Cloud brought his sword up and when the two swords met thunder crashed in the background. They stayed in the air in a great stalemate and gazed into each other's eyes. Sephiroth was the first to break away.

The Masamune and the Buster Sword clashed again. Cloud spun around and brought his blade up at an angle that would have taken Sephiroth's head off but Sephiroth disappeared in a flash of light. Cloud stood steady and in a flash his Buster Sword was in a defensive position as Sephiroth reappeared.

After blocking the strike Cloud flew straight up and Sephiroth followed. Slowing down, Cloud spun around incredibly fast and sliced Sephiroth across the arm. Sephiroth didn't bother to heal himself yet and whipped the Masamune around. Cloud blocked the strike but Sephiroth twirled his sword and caught the underside of Cloud's arm.

They healed themselves and were on each other again in a second. Sephiroth ducked under a swipe from Cloud and blasted him in the stomach with his fire spell. Cloud reeled back as Sephiroth created several large meteors.

"Your tricks may work on Sora, but not on me!" Cloud shouted and thrust his hand forward. Bolts of lightning flew from his hand and each bolt struck a meteor, effectively destroying them.

"You never used your most powerful techniques against the Keybearer," Sephiroth swung the Masamune again.

"Neither did you!" Cloud blocked the strike. "Finishing Touch!" Cloud called upon one of his most powerful attacks. A large whirlwind came up from the ground and surrounded Sephiroth, slamming him hard into the ground.

"Fallen Angel!" Sephiroth cried out and held his hands up. What appeared to be an angel with a dark body flew from his hands and slammed into Cloud. Cloud fell to the ground from the powerful attack and the stood face to face once again.

"Meteorain!" Cloud leaped into the air and pointed his Buster Sword at Sephiroth. Some of Cloud's own meteors fell from the sky and crashed into Sephiroth, injuring him greatly.

"Shadow Flare!" Sephiroth launched a powerful blast of black magic into the air and it hit Cloud hard making him fall to the ground once more. "We seem to be equally matched with our techniques."

"Appears that way," Cloud said as he stood on his feet. Sephiroth also got to his feet and thunder crashed in the background followed be a streak of lightning that lit up the night sky.

* * *

"They're fighting," Aerith whispered as Yuffie put her arms around her. "I never thought something that terrifying could happen twice."

"I know. I always wished they would never do it again," Yuffie said. Cid stood in the corner of the room with his head down low.

"Tell me Cid, how bad was it the first time?" Leon asked him.

"You know how much power they're using right now?" Cid said quietly and Leon nodded. "My bet is they're using half their real power. They're just warming up."

* * *

"What's going on?" Sora wondered. He was sitting awake on the Gummi Ship as they headed for the world of the Heartless. Donald and Goofy were sleeping but a terrible feeling had awoken Sora. "No one is that strong."

* * *

"Sephiroth made the first move this time and flew forward at amazing speed. Cloud ducked under his initial strike and then blocked his second. Cloud planted his foot into Sephiroth's stomach but Sephiroth slammed his fist across Cloud's face. Sephiroth jumped back and then brought his sword down again.

"Barrier!" Cloud shouted and the Masamune crashed against an invisible shield. Cloud moved forward and punched Sephiroth across the face twice. Sephiroth was knocked back but then flew straight at Cloud.

"DeBarrier!" Sephiroth waved his hand in front of him and Cloud felt his protection destroyed. Sephiroth performed a powerful spinning kick to Cloud's head and knocked him away. Cloud got back up and placed his hand on his chest.

"Haste!" Cloud felt his speed increase greatly and ran forward so fast no normal person would have been able to see him. But Sephiroth was no normal person and he was able to duck a swipe from the Buster Sword but then Cloud brought his knee up into Sephiroth's face. The spell soon wore off.

"Pale Horse!" Sephiroth shouted and what appeared to be a horse flashed to life and ran toward Cloud.

"Ultima!" Cloud placed both hands forward and a great beam came forth from him. The beam was made of every color imaginable and when the attacks hit each other there was a terrible explosion.

Masamune and Buster Sword met once more in center ring and the two warriors began pushing against each other. Their eyes met and there was a silent meaning behind their stares. They both nodded.

"Then let this be the end!" Sephiroth shouted and they both flew into the air and started to collect energy for their most powerful attacks. Soon Sephiroth was completely surrounded by a blue flame and Cloud by a red flame. A streak of lightning came down from the sky and split in two, hitting both warriors but it only seemed to add to their great powers.

* * *

"Hey! What's going on?" Phil shouted as he felt the ground start to shake. He saw Hercules sit upright in bed. "Is it an earthquake?"

"I don't think so Phil," Hercules pointed out the window and they saw the two glowing figures in the sky.

"SUPER NOVA!" Sephiroth launched his hand forward and a great beam fired from his hand as big as the Coliseum itself.

"OMNISLASH!" Cloud shouted back and pointed the Buster Sword as Sephiroth and he fired a beam just as large and just as powerful as Sephiroth's. The two great attacks struggled against each other as Sephiroth and Cloud continued to feed them more power. There was a great crash of thunder and the two attacks started to form a giant sphere of energy in the middle.

Cloud and Sephiroth let out deafening roars of power as they pushed against each other. With a great surge of power the sphere got larger and the entire Coliseum exploded around them.

Finally, the two great attacks formed an even greater explosion that enveloped both Cloud and Sephiroth and shook the entire world. When it was all over a dense mix of smoke, dust, and ash filled the air.

"Not…bad…Cloud," Sephiroth said between heavy breaths.

"It…it won't be…over…until…you're dead," Cloud told him.

"Another…time," Sephiroth chuckled and in a flash, disappeared. Cloud let his head hit the ground and let sleep take him away. He would defeat Sephiroth, it was his vow.

* * *

Author's Note- If anybody out there is like me you got really excited about Cloud and Sephiroth's fight in Final Mix and then really disappointed when it last all of 30 seconds. And if you though this fight was intense wait until I write KH2 and you get to see Phil's reaction to it. I can already see it in my head.

Anyway, there's only one big chapter left in the story and it is of course, End of the World. Yes the final battle with Ansem is coming with my next update.

So until then this is the Prince saying, Love and Peace!


	23. End of the World

Chapter 21

End of the World

"My God," was all Sora could say as he laid his eyes upon the world of the Heartless, or as Cid called it, End of the World. It looked like a very small galaxy and that was the only way he could describe it.

"We're going down there?" Goofy asked. Donald gulped and nodded as he motioned for Goofy to land. This wouldn't be easy.

It was an endless expanse of white. They had landed at a small island on a sea of light. Ahead of them was what was obviously their destination. It appeared to be a swirling mass of stars.

"So this is it?" Sora asked. "This is the end?"

"Sure is," Donald said. "You know, I've been thinking. When we defeat the Heartless and Ansem this place will disappear. Will we disappear too?"

"No way!" Goofy said firmly. "Our hearts ain't going nowhere! Even if our bodies are destroyed our hearts will live on. So let's turn these frown upside down and get going!" Goofy pointed ahead.

"You're right," Sora smiled and nodded.

"Sora, we've been working on something," Donald said and looked expectantly at Goofy but Goofy was just staring around. "Goofy!" Donald kicked Goofy's leg.

"Oh yeah!" Goofy said and pulled something out of his pocket. It was a Keychain and a very elegant looking one too. It was a gold and blue crown.

"We call it the Ultima," Donald said as Sora replaced the Oblivion with the Ultima. The Keyblade then took the shape of a real, crystal broadsword. Then a gold and blue frame formed the shape of a key over the sword.

"It's amazing guys! It feels even stronger than the Oblivion!" Sora said as he swung it a few times. While putting the Oblivion Keychain away he pulled out the Oathkeeper Keychain. "I promise Kairi, I will come back to you. With Riku."

"Let's get going," Donald said and they started forward.

* * *

Ansem was deep inside End of the World as he felt Sora, Donald, and Goofy arrive. He chuckled to himself and stood.

"Let the fun begin."

* * *

After stepping through the large sphere they found themselves at the top of a giant crevice. The odd thing was that there was hundreds of Gummi Blocks inside the walls of the crevice.

"If we keep jumping on those rocks we should be able to get down," Sora pointed to the many rocks sticking from the walls and making a way down.

"Hey Sora," Goofy stopped him. "What about that report?"

"Oh yeah," Sora pulled the completed Ansem's Report from his pocket. "I guess we should take a look." Sora put them in order and they started to read.

* * *

"Entry 1- Much of my life has been dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. That knowledge has guarded this world well. Not a soul doubts that I am blessed with my people's smiles and respect. But though I am called a sage, there are things I do not understand.

I believe darkness sleeps in every heart, no matter how pure. Given the chance, the smallest drop can spread and swallow the heart. I have witnessed it many times. Darkness…darkness of the heart. How is it born? How does it come to affect us? As ruler of this world I must find answers. I must find them before the world is lost to those taken by darkness.

Entry 2- It is my duty to expose what darkness really is. I shall conduct the following experiments. Extract the darkness from a person's heart. Cultivate darkness in a pure heart. Both suppress and amplify the darkness within.

The experiments have caused the test subjects' heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatments produced no sign of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their heart beneath the castle. Some time later I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness. What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?

Entry 3- The shadows that crawl beneath the castle…Are they people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of darkness? Or something completely beyond imagination? All my knowledge has provided on answer. One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart.

Fortunately, there is no shortage of test subjects. They are multiplying underground even as I write this report. They still need a name. Those who lack hearts…I will call them the Heartless.

Entry 4- The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace.

I believe the Heartless are taking hearts. They are born from those who've lost their hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others. The hearts taken by the Heartless become Heartless themselves. Though I lack proof, I am confident in this hypothesis. I must also study their behavioral properties.

Though they lack emotions, they do seem to have some intelligence. How to communicate with them? It's just occurred to me; Could they be the darkness in people's hearts?

Entry 5- To study the Heartless behavior, I picked one out for observation. It wiggled its antennae and, as if sensing a threat, headed deep into the castle. In the deepest part of the castle, its antennae began vibrating, as if searching for something. Suddenly, a strange door appeared. I'd never known of its existence. It had a large keyhole but didn't seem to be locked. So I opened the door.

What I saw on the other side mystified me. What was that powerful mass of energy? That night I observed a great meteor shower in the sky. Could it be related to the door that I have opened?

Entry 6- A massive core of energy lay beyond the door sought by the Heartless. It may well be the ultimate goal of the Heartless. But what is that energy? I have devised a hypothesis, based upon my observations of the Heartless. The Heartless feed on others' hearts. There is no proof, but having felt that immense energy, I am certain that was the heart of the world. The Heartless are trying to take hearts not only from living things, but from the world itself. But what do they mean to do with the heart of the world?

Entry 7- I am now studying material from the meteors that rained down that fateful night. What a find! The material is foreign to our world. It is elastic to the touch and when two pieces are combined they bond easily. None of the records I've scoured even mention such a substance. Was it introduced to this world when I opened that door? I wonder how many other such materials drift through the atmosphere of this world…I wish I could soar off and find out!

Could there be uncharted worlds out there? My curiosity never ceases to grow. But I should stop speaking of such unrealistic dreams. For now, there is no way to venture outside this world. My people and I are all but prisoners of this tiny place.

Entry 8- There is no doubt that the Heartless are deeply connected to people's hearts. Further study may unravel both their motivations and the mysteries shrouding the heart. As a start, I have built a device that artificially creates Heartless. By recreating the conditions that spawn the Heartless naturally, I should be able to produce them artificially. The device is a culmination of all my research thus far.

The machines test run successfully created a Heartless. This may be a step toward creating a heart from nothing. The artificially and naturally created Heartless showed nearly identical traits. But the two types should remain distinct for the purposes of this experiment. So, I will mark the ones that are created artificially.

Entry 9- Simply astonishing! Today I had a guest from another world. He is a king, and his vessel is built of the material that composed the meteors. He called the pieces Gummi Blocks. It seems that opening the door has opened a path for interworld travel. We talked for countless hours, but one story in particular caught my interest: that of a key called the Keyblade.

The Keyblade is said to hold phenomenal power. One legend says its wielder saved the world, while another says wrought chaos and ruin upon it. I must know what this Keyblade is. A key opens doors. It must be connected to the door I have opened.

Entry 10- Just as people have hearts, so do worlds. The same can be said of the stars in the night sky. And deep within each world lies a door to its heart. The Heartless desire those hearts. Born of the darkness in people's hearts, they seek to return to a greater heart. Yes, that's it. The Heartless come from people's hearts as does the darkness.

Is the core of the world's heart the world of the Heartless? I will pursue the answer there, and become all knowing. My path is set. I shall seek out the wielder of the Keyblade, and the princesses. My body is to frail for such a journey, but I must do this. I will cast it off and plunge into the depths of darkness."

* * *

Sora, Donald, and Goofy were speechless. So many things had been explained. Ansem created the Heartless and unleashed them upon the worlds.

"I don't believe this!" Sora slammed the Ultima into the ground. "All of this is happening because Ansem decided to play God!"

"We must beat Ansem," Goofy said. "Maybe then everything will return to normal."

"We won't get anything done just sitting here, let's go," Donald said and they nodded back. They started jumping from rock to rock to the bottom of the crevice. About halfway down a new set of Heartless appeared.

The first looked human enough but had small wings coming from their back and long horns went form their head sticking into the air. They had longs tail and held large sword in their right hands. They were called Invisibles.

The next kind seemed best described as a large light bulb with the Heartless crest on the front and four golden wings coming form the top. They were called Angel Stars.

Donald started off the battle by launching a Firaga at an Angel Star but it moved quickly to the side and came down even faster, hitting Donald hard. Donald got back to his feet and used Graviga as soon as he was on his feet and it crushed the Angel Star.

Sora crossed sword with two Invisibles. The first brought his sword down and the second to the side making Sora have to duck and sidestep at the same time. He came back by slicing through the first and blocking an attack from the second.

Goofy was also fighting and Invisible but wasn't having such good luck. He had already been cut twice and almost received another but blocked with his shield. He spun around and tried to cut through the Invisible's side but all of a sudden it was gone. Its sword was stuck in the ground with small purple flames around it. The purple flames moved so they surrounded Goofy and then closed in on him, burning him.

Sora stabbed forward but the Invisible moved backwards to avoid the attack. Sora blasted it with a Blizzaga and killed it. Two Angel Stars flew his way and he ran straight at them with the Ultima raised.

Donald was facing one Angel Star and one Invisible but was still holding his own. He blocked at attack from the Angel Star and ducked under a sword swipe from the Invisible before shoving his staff into its gut and blasting it away with a Thundaga.

Goofy got to his feet to see the Invisible reappear and two more coming up behind that one. Goofy ran up while the Invisible was pulling its sword out the ground and bashed it as hard as he could in its head killing it. The other two were on him in a second but Goofy blocked both attacks and jammed the side of his shield into the stomach of one of them and destroyed it but the other had its sword raised already.

Sora knocked one Angel Star away and then quickly stabbed through the other. The Angel Star he knocked away came in fast and crashed into Sora's head. Sora was sent to the ground and cast Stopga as the Angel Star came toward him. He jumped up and sliced through the Angel Star to destroy it.

Donald faced the last Angel Star with his staff ready for any kind of spell. The Angel Star came in quick and it suddenly flashed a brilliant light and Donald was blinded for a second but this was all the Angel Star needed and hit Donald hard in the stomach. Donald fired off a Firaga even though he couldn't see and by some impossible luck, struck and killed the Angel Star.

Goofy dived out of the way as the Invisible brought its sword down. He got back up and jumped into the air, landing a kick into the Invisible's chest on the way down. He landed on his feet and sprung forward with his shield out and went straight through the Invisible. The three of them looked around and nodded as they saw the Heartless were all gone.

"That wasn't that hard but I'm sure Ansem has something much worse than a batch of Heartless to stop us," Sora said.

"Look down there," Goofy pointed to the bottom of the crevice where there was a pool of light. They jumped down to it and saw that it was apparently the only way out. They stared at each other and shrugged as they jumped in.

* * *

It was endless space. The three of them stood on one of nine floating rocks with shafts of purple light shooting up from them. There seemed to be no way off of the rock so they stepped into the purple light.

* * *

"No way!" Sora shouted as he looked around. They were in Traverse Town in the Third District. "This must have been how the Heartless got to the worlds so quickly. Those pillars of light transported them here."

"Watch out!" Donald pushed Sora out of the way as a Soldier appeared with its claws extended. Standing around them was a few Shadows, Soldiers, and Large Bodies. Goofy was the first to jump into action, easily taking down two Shadows before dodging an attack from a Soldier.

Sora ran at one of the Large Bodies and blasted a Firaga at it but they seemed to be resistant to even this more powerful form of magic. He dove to the side as the Large Body attacked and ran around it, slashing through its back.

"Thundaga!" Donald easily blasted away all of the Shadows and many of the Soldiers with his one attack. Goofy took care of the remaining Soldiers and Sora finished off the last two Large Bodies. They all felt a pull and they were suddenly back on the large rock in the endless space.

"This is like some kind of…World Nexus," Sora said as a bridge suddenly extended to the next rock. They went into the next purple pillar and they were pulled into Wonderland. There were many Red Nocturnes, Blue Rhapsodies, Yellow Operas, and Green Requiems.

They first attacked the Green Requiems so they couldn't heal the others. Sora slashed through two, Donald blasted one away, and Goofy finished the last two. Donald was hit in the back by a Yellow Opera's thunder spell and thrown forward. Sora turned and sliced through it.

Goofy went straight at the Red Nocturnes. He knocked one hard enough into the wall it was killed and then turned and used the edge of his shield to slice through another. He punched one out of the air and then kicked it away to kill that one as well.

Sora ducked under a blizzard attack and cut up and through a Blue Rhapsody before turning and slicing through three more. Donald blasted the remaining Yellow Operas away with a large Blizzaga.

"Yeah!" Sora pumped his fist in the air. "These little Heartless don't stand a chance!" They were then pulled back to the World Nexus. They crossed the new bridge to the next rock and stepped into the light. Now they were at the Coliseum.

There was a large assortment of Heartless here. From Shadows to Defenders they were surrounded by Heartless. They sprung into action. Sora cut through a Soldier and turned to block and attack from a Defender. He covered himself with an Aeroga and jumped into the fray.

Donald moved away as a Wizard blasted a hole in the ground with some lightning. Donald destroyed it with a Firaga then turned and destroyed two Shadows with a Blizzaga.

Goofy went straight against a Defender with their shields clashing in between them. Goofy spun to the side and then hit the Defender's defenseless body to kill it. A Search Ghost appeared before him and he had to duck an attack from it and turned around quickly to slice through it.

"Is that it?" Sora looked around and they were suddenly pulled back to the Nexus. "I guess so." Into the next light they went. It was Deep Jungle this time.

Twelve Powerwilds stood before them and split into groups of four to come after them.

Sora ran forward to meet his group but had to jump back as a Powerwild swiped at him.

He jumped at the Powerwild and sliced through it and then spun around to kill the one behind him. He launched a Firaga to destroy another and killed the final one with a dodge and a strike from the Ultima.

Goofy held his shield in front of him as a Powerwild crashed against it and then pushed it back, sending it back into the other Powerwilds. Running forward Goofy used Charge but three of the Powerwilds were able to move away. Quickly turning he cut one down and then kicked one hard enough to kill it. The last one was on him incredibly quick but Goofy was faster and ducked backwards. While the Powerwild was over him Goofy sliced though it.

Donald sent forward a powerful Thundaga and caught two of the Powerwilds and the other two split up. One jumped at him from the left and the other from the right. Donald stepped back and they collided in the air. Donald blasted them both with a Blizzaga and finished them.

The next world was Agrabah, the Atlantica, the Halloween Town, then Neverland, and finally Hallow Bastion. By the end of it they were starting to get really tired.

"You think Ansem meant for us to go to all the worlds?" Sora asked and Donald just smacked him over top the head. They were on the final rock and there was a weird blue light that overtook them.

* * *

It was endless space yet again except now there was a gigantic mountain in front of them with something rising from it.

"No way! Impossible!" Donald yelled as they got closer and that something began taking shape.

"Yeah! I though the King banished that thing!" Goofy shouted in agreement.

"What is it?" Sora asked and at the same time they said: "Chernabog." Sora now saw that Chernabog was as big as the mountain itself and he could only be described as a demon with incredibly large black wings.

"Let's take it down!" Donald flew forward and it was at this time Sora looked down to realize there was no ground underneath them. Yet it felt as if they were flying around Neverland again.

"Yeah!" Sora shouted and followed quickly. Goofy shrugged and flew forward as well. Chernabog did not want them there it would seem as it suddenly swiped out a large claw at them but they were able to fly over it.

"Firaga Breath!" Chernabog shouted in an incredibly deep voice. A stream of fire like Sora had never seen flew forward and straight at them. The fire was to wide to fly away from so Sora cast Aeroga on himself and Donald cast I ton himself and Goofy. This softened the blow but it still hurt, especially in their tired state.

"Strike Raid!" Sora tossed the Ultima forward and magical energy burst around it and it slammed right into Chernabog's chest. Chernabog noticed the attack but didn't seem to be affected by it to bad.

"Rocket!" Goofy sent himself forward and slammed into the same place the Strike Raid had hit and Chernabog growled in pain. Donald shot a Blizzaga at the spot but Chernabog got his second wind and knocked the attack away.

Sora flew forward to deliver a hard blow to Chernabog's injury but it suddenly hunched over and when it sprung out the entire mountain erupted and Sora was caught in the middle of it. When the eruption ended Chernabog looked down at a beaten Sora. Donald came down and tried to heal him but Chernabog created a ball of energy and blew Donald away as well.

"Summon," Sora said weakly as he struggled to hold on to the Ultima. "Tinker Bell." And with that Tinker Bell came forth from the Ultima and in a wave of energy they were all cured instantly. Chernabog had a very confused expression on his face but it wouldn't be there much longer as Sora took the Ultima and dug it right into Chernabog's exposed injury.

Chernabog screamed in pain and then exploded, taking most of the mountain with it. All that was left was a large crater. Sora, Donald, and Goofy flew down into the crater sure they would be transported to another place.

* * *

So they were as they ended up in what appeared to be a stone hallway. The walls scared them. It was as if a world was being destroyed but in very slow motion and the farther they walked the worse it got. Finally they got to a pool of white energy on the floor and they hopped in.

* * *

Now they were in a large cave and on one side was a Heartless crest. Sora walked over and placed his hand on it and it crumbled away to reveal another, but much smaller, cave behind it. In there was a door.

"That door," Sora said. "It looks, familiar." Sora walked up to the door and grabbed it and it opened slightly.

"Be careful," an incredibly familiar voice filled Sora's head. "Beyond this door, there is no light to protect you." He remembered now. The voice from his dream long ago that had guided him along.

"Well, are we going?" Donald asked.

"Give me a minute!" Sora shouted. He grabbed the door and paused, expecting the voice to say something but all was silent and he opened the door. It was another cave but this one was very familiar and Sora knew it well. "Can't be." Sora made a mad dash to get out of the cave.

"Sora!" Goofy yelled and they ran after him only to meet the blinding light of day. They had been in the dark room longer then they thought apparently. When their vision returned they saw they were on an island.

"Is this?" Sora asked. "Is this my island?" Sure enough they were on Destiny Islands where this whole thing had started.

"This world has been connected," Ansem's voice came and a part of the island disappeared right in front of them. "Tied to the darkness. Soon to be completely eclipsed."

"No," Sora was in shock. This was the same thing the man in the brown cloak had said long ago. Ansem had been that man in the brown cloak.

"A meaningless effort. One who knows nothing can understand nothing," Ansem's voice came to their ears again and then they saw. It was Riku, and he was standing on the beach. Then the crystal blue ocean water became a disgusting purple and the beach started to crack and raise from the water.

"This can't be," Sora shook his head.

"Take a look at this tiny place," Ansem's voice came from Riku who was facing away from them. "To the heart seeking freedom this island is a prison, surrounded by water. So this boy sought to escape from his prison. And he opened his heart to darkness." Riku turned around and while he was turning his body was transformed and Ansem stood in his place.

"Riku!" Sora shouted and reached forward.

"Don't bother," Ansem smirked. "Your voice can no longer reach him where he is. His heart belongs again to darkness. All worlds begin in darkness, and all so end. The heart is no different. Darkness sprouts with in it, it grows, consumes it. Such is its nature. In the end, every heart returns to the darkness whence it came!" Ansem suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind them. "You see, darkness is the heart's true essence."

"That's not true!" Sora stopped him. "The heart may be weak and sometime it may even give in. But I've learned that deep down there's a light that never goes out!"

"So you've come this far and still you understand nothing," Ansem began to rise from the ground and floated there. "Every light must fade, every heart return to darkness!" With this shout a form appeared behind Ansem. It was just an upper body but very muscular with two jagged antennae.

"What's that?" Goofy asked.

"This is the Guardian! My own personal Heartless!" Ansem explained and with this the fight began. Sora ran straight at Ansem and brought the Ultima up. He swung the Ultima down but the Guardian appeared in front of him and the attack bounced off. Ansem held his hands up and razor sharp disks of energy came from them. Sora ducked under one but one caught him on the leg.

Donald had set up Aeroga right away and the disks bounced off his shield. He ran at Ansem and blasted a Firaga at him but the Guardian appeared. As soon as the Guardian went back behind Ansem Donald brought up his staff and landed a hard blow to Ansem's face. Ansem glared at him and blasted him away.

Sora and Goofy ran at Ansem at the same time and both got on a different side of him. They both attacked at the same time. Ansem made the Guardian block Sora's attack and grabbed Goofy by the throat right out of the air.

"I am not defenseless without my Guardian," Ansem told him and punched Goofy several times in his gut and then a final time across his jaw sending Goofy to the ground. Ansem turned around and blasted Sora with some powerful magic. Pain ran through Ansem's head as Goofy had gotten back up and crashed his shield against his head.

The enraged Ansem turned to blast Goofy away but had to duck a swipe of the Ultima and was hit by a Blizzaga. He shouted in rage and unleashed an attack in every direction sending them all flying back. Ansem then pointed to Sora.

"Come Guardian!" he shouted and the Guardian flew right at Sora and hit him but instead of going back to Ansem the Guardian went inside Sora. Sora shook his head and went to try an attack. "Come, open your heart." Ansem said and the Guardian appeared from Sora and held him still in the air. A sphere of energy came from Ansem and Sora was caught in it, sending him flying back. The Guardian went behind Ansem again quickly as Goofy and Donald got back up.

They ran over to Sora and helped him get to his feet. Donald cured Sora and they stood ready to face Ansem again.

"Maybe I should level the playing field," Ansem said to himself and the large tree behind him started shaking and soon the entire island shook with it. Then with a deafening noise the tree split in half revealing it to be hollow inside. Ansem smirked and floated back into the tree.

"Let's get him!" Sora was the first to run at him and jumped into the tree but as Donald and Goofy tried to jump in some kind of force field knocked them away. "Donald! Goofy!" Sora shouted up to them.

"You should focus your attention on something else," Ansem laughed and created a pool of darkness under them and from the pool came a gigantic form. It was the first true beast Sora had ever face. It was Darkside.

"I don't have time for you!" Sora shouted and raised the Ultima. Darkside brought his hand down to squash Sora but Sora laughed at how slow it was. He ran up Darkside's arm and slammed the Ultima into its head. "I told you to stay dead! Anything tougher Ansem?" Sora questioned as Darkside disappeared. A blast of energy knocked Sora to the ground.

"As a matter of fact," Ansem said as he flew down and punched Sora several times across the face and then blasted him away again. Sora rolled onto his feet and ran forward with a strong swipe at Ansem but the Guardian blocked it. Ansem was suddenly surrounded by a great swell of energy and flew at Sora. Sora was not prepared for this and Ansem crashed into him very hard. Sora slammed into the nearby wall and blood began to pour from the back of his head.

"That hurt," Sora said as he stood and healed himself. He ran forward with the Ultima raised again and began to swing. Just as the hit was about to connect with the Guardian Sora flipped over it and sliced into Ansem's back.

"You fool," Ansem spat out as he healed his back. "I'll show you true power." He began to glow with an amazing orange light. Suddenly a beam of energy hit Sora from underneath him and while he was in the air Ansem launched another beam that crashed into Sora and made him hit the ground again. The Guardian went inside Sora again but this was what Sora had been waiting for.

Sora ran straight at Ansem knowing the Guardian was waiting for him to attack and then grab hold of him. Instead of using a normal attack he'd have to use something much better.

"Ragnarok!" Sora shouted and leaped into the air cutting deep into Ansem's chest then unleashing the great wave of energy right into the cut. Ansem screamed in pain as the Guardian returned to him.

"You will not survive Keybearer," Ansem said and then there was a flash followed by complete darkness. Sora was still able to see Donald and Goofy who were now at his side but next to that there was absolutely nothing but darkness.

"What?" Sora looked around desperate for something. Ansem's voice suddenly shouted from the darkness.

"Behold the endless abyss! Within it lies the heart of all worlds: Kingdom Hearts!" Then there was a small flash and a floating platform appeared with a large pure white double-door that must have lead to Kingdom Hearts. "Look as hard as you are able, you'll find not even the smallest glimmer of light. From these dark depths are all hearts born. Even yours." Then it appeared.

If Sora had to describe it, it would be a giant platform with a head sticking out the front and a large dome coming up from it with Sora a bug compared to it. Its face was twisted and horrible and the dome was just a large and transparent force field. Sora could see inside of it and there was some kind of blob in there.

On the top of the dome was the Guardian but the Guardian was now as large as the thing it was attached to. The Guardian's antennae had now turned into large horns and there were two large, blue spheres on its shoulders. From the Guardians stomach came about twenty tentacles.

Attached to these tentacles was Ansem. The tentacles were attached to his back and he now only wore black pants with yellow lining and his black boots. Ansem had grown as well and now Sora only came up to his waist.

"Darkness conquers all worlds!" Ansem shouted. Sora felt the ground leave him and the three of them started falling. A dark portal appeared and Donald and Goofy were pulled into it while Sora kept falling. Falling into darkness.

"Giving up already?" Riku's voice filled Sora's ears. "Come on, Sora. I thought you were stronger than that." Sora nodded. He was stronger than this and it was time to prove to Ansem that he was. Sora suddenly stopped and flew into the air coming to a stop in front of Ansem with the Ultima appearing in his hands.

"So you are prepared to do this the hard way?" Ansem asked and a double-bladed halberd appeared in his hand.

"Tell me, Ansem, what is this giant turtle you're attached to?" Sora asked.

"This is the great beast, the World of Chaos. It is my Guardian's true form," Ansem said and the guardian nodded behind him. Sora shook his head and flew forward and brought the Ultima down on Ansem but Ansem used the halberd to block the strike and knocked Sora away. Ansem brought his halberd up and tried to slice through Sora but Sora flew back quickly.

"Can't get me back here while you're attached to your precious Guardian, huh?" Sora taunted Ansem but apparently this was not the right thing to do as Ansem held his hand in the air and several spheres of energy appeared. The spheres fired lasers straight at Sora and he tried to dodge but the lasers were too accurate and most hit him.

Sora quickly decided to remain close to Ansem as he flew back in. He swung the Ultima but Ansem blocked and counterattacked. Sora spun to the side and stabbed Ansem's stomach but Ansem quickly healed himself and struck back. Sora avoided it with a back flip, kicking Ansem in the chin as his feet passed Ansem's head.

"I will not lose!" Ansem started to swell with energy and let lose a blast of terrible power. Sora was hit and hit hard. He shouted out in pain and floated there almost unable to move. "Were are your friends now?"

"I have plenty of friends," Sora said weakly. "You just can't see them."

"Oh really?" Ansem smirked and brought the halberd over his head. "Then they had better get here very fast."

"They're already here!" Sora shouted out and the Ultima began to shine with a brilliant light before many forms appeared from it. One by one they appeared. Simba, Genie, Dumbo, Tinker Ball, and Mushu. His summons stood defiantly behind him staring Ansem right in his face. Tinker Bell healed Sora and she stood with him. Simba let out a beam of golden energy, Genie a beam of blue, Dumbo a gush of water, and Mushu a stream of fire. Ansem let out a scream of pain as the attacks left him beaten.

"Impossible," Ansem muttered and the tentacles pulled Ansem inside the Guardian and a giant Heartless crest appeared, covering and protecting him. Sora's summons disappeared back inside the Ultima. A portal of darkness appeared beneath him and he was pulled in.

* * *

It was another room of darkness Sora landed in. The Heartless crest was shining on the floor and Sora thought he saw something move over it.

"What was that?" Sora walked a little closer when he felt something cut through his leg. Sora concentrated on Scan and found that there were nearly a dozen Shadows all around but he couldn't see them.

He sliced in front of him with the Ultima and he felt it tear through two of them and barely miss another. He cast Aeroga on himself and he felt a Shadow bounce off the shield and he sliced through it before it hit the ground.

"Thundaga!" he shouted and more than half of them were killed. He felt two more left in the room. "Strike Raid!" He launched the Ultima and it hit the first Shadow and then the second, killing them both. There was a flash and an orb of energy appeared in the darkness. Sora walked up to it and sliced through it with the Ultima and it exploded.

* * *

Sora was in front of the World of Chaos again. Ansem was still behind the Heartless crest so it would be best to take out the World of Chaos now. A small blast went past him and he saw ten pointy blue things shooting at him like they were the artillery of the World of Chaos. He would have to take them out.

He flew down and cut through one and dodged a blast from another then cut through two really big ones. He focused on the three remaining on one side and cut through them and then used a Thundaga to destroy the four on the other side. Now the World of Chaos couldn't attack. There was another portal of darkness and Sora was pulled in.

* * *

It was the same dark room with the Heartless crest but this time Sora felt seven Darkballs flying around him.

"Firaga!" he shot at one but it dodged.

"Sora?" Goofy's voice came from the darkness.

"Goofy! Have you been fighting these things the whole time?" Sora asked as he dodged and attack from a Darkball.

"Sure have!" Goofy shouted as he destroyed one. Sora brought the Ultima up and felt it go through another leaving only five left. "Tornado!" Goofy began spinning and cut through three of them. Sora dived forward with the Ultima extended and felt the tip penetrate another.

"One more!" Sora shouted.

"Charge!" Goofy yelled and he went straight through the final Darkball to make the orb of energy appear. Sora walked up to it and slashed through this one as well.

* * *

"Now what do we do?" Goofy asked as they appeared near the World of Chaos and Sora inspected it for some kind of weak spot.

"The face!" Sora pointed down to the head sticking out and the horrible face on it. He flew down with Goofy close behind him. Sora had to move back as the face snapped at him but Goofy slammed the edge of his shield into its forehead and carved through it to destroy it. Then another portal pulled them in.

* * *

This had to be the most dangerous dark room as Sora felt six Invisibles flying around him and he saw a fireball blast into one and kill it.

"Donald?" Sora asked.

"About time!" Donald shouted as a Thundaga hit the ground a little bit away from them. Sora ran forward but sensed an attack coming and brought the Ultima up to hear and Invisible's sword hit it. He knocked the blade away and stabbed through the Invisible as he felt Goofy kill two more and Donald kill the remaining one.

"I got one!" Goofy suddenly shouted.

"That's me you idiot!" Donald's voice followed as the final orb of light appeared in front of them and Sora sliced through it.

* * *

As the reunited heroes appeared before the World of Chaos the force field protecting the large dome was blown away. Sora flew down into the dome with Donald and Goofy behind him to see some kind of shining blob.

"I think it's some kind of core, that's why it was so well protected," Donald said as they inspected it.

"Really?" Sora smirked and brought the Ultima up and slammed it into the core, burying it to the hilt. The core exploded and they were thrown from the dome and looked up to see the Heartless crest disappear and a fully revitalized Ansem come out of the Guardian's stomach.

"This is the end!" Ansem shouted and began to gather energy for some kind of attack.

"You bet it is!" Sora flew straight for Ansem but the large arm of the Guardian knocked him away. Then he suddenly couldn't breath. His windpipe felt like it was being crushed and he saw Ansem with his hands outstretched. He grabbed his throat and looked over to see Donald and Goofy doing the same.

"Face it Keybearer," Ansem got closer to him. "You can't beat me."

"No…I…can't," Sora wheezed out when Ansem's hold over him was blown away by some new power. Sora, Donald, and Goofy were surrounded by a fierce golden energy, creating a gold flame around them. "But we can!"

"Trinity!" Goofy screamed out.

"Limit!" Donald shouted as both he and Goofy pushed their arms forward.

"Attack!" Sora finished and pushed his arms forward as well. Three beams of energy came from them and formed one giant one as big as the World of Chaos itself. The three of them screamed in a perfectly synchronized tone.

"No! This can't be!" Ansem shouted as the beam connected and there was an explosion the likes of which none had ever seen. When it cleared Sora, Donald, and Goofy stood before the beaten Ansem. Ansem was back to normal with his Guardian gone and clutching where his heart should be.

"We win Ansem," Sora said simply.

"It is futile," Ansem said weakly. "The Keyblade alone cannot seal the door to darkness. Kingdom Hearts!" Ansem turned toward the white double-door. "Fill me with the power of darkness!" The doors opened just a little bit and darkness began to pour out form them. "Supreme darkness!"

"You're wrong!" Sora shouted. "I know now, without a doubt, that Kingdom Hearts is light!" As if answering Sora's call the doors burst open all the way and the purest light they had ever seen came from it.

"The light," Ansem said softly with his voice slightly cracking. "But why?" And then in a dazzling display, Ansem was gone and a shockwave went out from the center of the fantastic explosion.

The light died down and the door to Kingdom Hearts was slightly opened. Sora, Donald, and Goofy ran forward and landed in front of the doors as they tried to push them closed as they could but the doors were far too big. Donald and Goofy took one door and Sora took the other as they struggled to push them back together.

"Oh no!" Goofy shouted as he looked beyond the door.

"Stop staring and keep pushing!" Donald shouted at him but couldn't help but look himself and was terrified at what he saw. Thousands of millions of Heartless all with their eyes turned on them.

"The Heartless!" Goofy screamed.

"Hurry!" Donald doubled his efforts but neither part of the door would budge.

"I can't…" Sora was about to give up in this impossible task.

"Don't give up!" a black-gloved hand grabbed the door from the other side. Sora looked in to see Riku trying to pull the door closed. "Come on Sora! Together we can do this!" He shouted and Sora nodded to him as he pushed harder. Behind Riku not one but two Darksides arose from the depths.

"It's hopeless!" Donald yelled. Then two golden blasts came form nowhere. Each blast hit a Darkside and the two of them exploded. Then he appeared, surrounded by a great golden energy. He stood inside the doors like Riku did.

"Your majesty!" Donald and Goofy both shouted. Sure enough, standing before them was the King, Mickey Mouse, the ruler of Donald and Goofy's world. Mickey held his hand out and a Keyblade appeared. It looked just like the Kingdom Key but it was smaller and instead of a gold handle and silver key it was a silver handle and a golden key. It was his Golden Kingdom Key.

"Now Sora, let's close thisdoor for good," Mickey said.

"Close it quick!" Donald screamed.

"But…" Sora looked to Riku and then Mickey. "How will you get out?"

"Don't worry," Mickey turned toward him and the golden energy went away. "There will always be a door to the light."

"Sora, you can trust King Mickey," Goofy assured him.

"Hurry, they're coming!" Riku shouted as he saw the Heartless start to crawl closer. Sora took out the Ultima and changed it back to the Kingdom Key. He held it high into the air and Mickey did the same and the doors slowly began to close.

"Donald, Goofy, thank you," Mickey said as he lowered his Keyblade. Sora walked up to the closing door and his eyes met Riku's.

"Take care of her," Riku said and Sora nodded as tears came to his eyes. Then the door slammed close. Sora turned around and was shocked to see Kairi standing there but the place she was standing on started to turn to sand.

"Kairi!" Sora shouted and ran up to her. He was sure since he and Mickey had closed the door everyone was going back to his or her own world. Kairi was going back to Destiny Islands. Sora knew he wouldn't go back. His journey wasn't over yet.

"Sora!" she shouted back. He reached his hand out and she grabbed onto it.

"Kairi. Remember what you said before? I'm always with you, too," his eyes began to water again. "I'll come back to you! I promise!"

"I know you will!" she shouted back and their hands were pulled apart as Kairi was taken back to Destiny Islands. She was standing on the beach as trees began to sprout and grew back right before her eyes. The water became crystal blue again and soon Destiny Islands was restored to normal.

Kairi watched as countless stars flew into the night sky and found places for themselves. It was all the worlds being restored. She didn't go home right away but just wandered around the island and eventually ended up at the Secret Place. In the cave she saw the drawing her and Sora had made of each other.

Then she noticed the extra part Sora had drawn on right before the island was destroyed of his arm out giving Kairi a Paupu Fruit. She began to cry as she could just picture him sitting there drawing with that silly smile on his face the one that always made her laugh. Even just remembering it made her giggle through her tears as she ran her hand over the drawing.

She picked up a rock and began to draw. She stood when she was done and headed for home. The drawing was of her giving Sora a Paupu back, making their destinies become intertwined. She was home but Riku and Sora weren't.

* * *

"Pinocchio! Pinocchio!" Geppetto laughed as Pinocchio jumped around on top of a table with great joy. "You're a real boy!" Geppetto shed some happy tears and Pinocchio pinched himself to see if it was real, and it was.

* * *

"Jasmine," Aladdin said softly as he softly wrapped his arms around her and bent down to kiss her. Outside looking in the window Genie covered Abu's eyes.

* * *

Queen Minnie and Dasiy smiled to each other as Chip and Dale danced and Donald's nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie jumped around in celebration.

* * *

"Look who I found sulking around!" Cid laughed as he walked into the library at Hallow Bastion where Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith were talking. He waved his hand and Cloud walked in behind him.

"Cloud?" Aerith asked speechless. She walked up to him but he turned his head away. Aerith put her hand on the side of his face and moved it so they were looking at each other in the eye.

Leon looked down to see his arm had somehow found its way over Yuffie's shoulder. He jumped and blushed as he moved away. Yuffie just laughed.

Cloud suddenly wrapped his arms around Aerith and held her tightly. For the first time in many years Cloud finally felt happy. So he did the only thing a warrior could do at this point, he cried.


	24. Epilogue

Epilogue

The Long Road Ahead

Sora, Donald, and Goofy walked along on a long dirt road that seemed to go on for miles in what appeared to be an endless field.

"Well now what do we do?" Donald asked.

"We have to find Riku and King Mickey," Sora said.

"But where do we start look for that there door to the light?" Goofy brought up the question on all their minds. They stopped and then with a sigh hunched over. At this point a very familiar dog crossed their path.

"Pluto?" Donald asked.

"Hey Pluto! Where've you been?" Goofy walked closer and saw a slip of paper in Pluto's mouth. It was a letter with a certain symbol on it. "Hey, that's the King's seal!"

"Where'd you get the letter boy?" Sora took a step forward and Pluto began running down the dirt road away from them. "Hey!" Sora took off after him with Donald and Goofy in hot pursuit. They all laughed as they ran. Their journey wasn't over; they had a long road ahead.

"Remember Sora," came the voice from the dream long ago. "You are the one who will open the door to the light."

* * *

**Another Side, Another Story**

**Deep Dive**

It was night. A young man stood at a crossroads with his spiky brown hair blowing in the wind. He stared at the moon.

* * *

A bottle washed up on shore. Inside the bottle lay a message written on fine paper.

* * *

On the same rocky beach, the Heartless symbol flashed on one of the large rocks and a man walked right through the rock. He wore a long black coat zipped up in the front with a hood that hid his appearance. He raised his head and a glowing yellow eye was seen.

* * *

In a dark city, rain poured down and everyone was inside but one person. He also wore a black coat with a hood but no features could be seen of him. Hundreds of Shadows rose behind him and he turned around. These were not regular Shadows. These were Neo-Shadows of the Heartless. They stood at a normal man's waist with jagged antenna coming from their heads. They were much more human-like. 

"Where's Sora?" The man summoned not one, but two Keyblades to his side. The Oathkeeper in his left and the Oblivion in his right. As the Neo-Shadows jumped at him he started to skillfully slice them down. One jumped at his back but he held the Oblivion behind him and it was destroyed. The Oathkeeper spun and killed in a forgiving fashion but the Oblivion destroyed without mercy.

Four Neo-Shadows jumped high into the air and started to fall toward him. The Dual-Wielder did a back flip and while he was upside down, tossed the Oathkeeper like a boomerang and killed those ones. The Dual-Wielder jumped onto the stairs of an extremely tall building, as there were now thousands of Neo-Shadows. He looked up to the top.

* * *

On the top of the building there was another man in a black coat but his hood was down. A dark blindfold hid his eyes but his silver hair blew freely around him. He walked to the side of the building and looked down with a hint of a smile on his face.

* * *

The Dual-Wielder jumped up and started running straight up the building. The Neo-Shadows followed him but he continues to slice them down. Some came from behind and some from the front but the Dual-Wielder was too skilled to be caught. He tossed the Oblivion into the air with all of his strength.

* * *

The Blindfolded Man dived off the side of the building and caught the Oblivion on his way down. Half of the Neo-Shadows changed course and ran after him. He cut down all the Heartless that got in his way.

* * *

Time seemed to slow to a stop as the two Keybearers passed each other. They both were on a screen that glowed with the picture of Kairi. The Dual-Wielder had replaced the Oblivion with the Kingdom Key. They stared at each other on their fall but kept going.

* * *

The Glowing Eyed man continued to walk on the beach until he got to another person in a black coat that sat on a rock. This man had no features that were shown.

* * *

Back in the city a figure fell to a rooftop while doing many flips. He landed with Golden Kingdom Key in hand. He wore a black coat also but he could clearly be seen. It was King Mickey himself.

* * *

As the Glowing Eyed man stepped up to the man sitting on the rock the sitting man spoke to him. "He looks just like you."

* * *

The sleeping form of the brown haired boy from the crossroads was flying over the ocean, alone.

* * *

"What took you so long, Kairi?" 

"Can we do it? Against that?"

"We have come for you my liege."

"You are the source of all Heartless!"

"Sora?"

"Your highness! But why?"

"What is this place?"

"Is this the answer you've been looking for?"

"This is the world in its true form!"

"Maybe our journey meant nothing after all."

"Everything is coming back to me, the true…"

**Kingdom Hearts II**

* * *

Well, there it is! My Kingdom Hearts novelization is officially finished. I finished End of the World and this epilogue while listening to Green Day a little too loud, eating a little too many Doritos, and and drinking a little too much Pepsi. (I do not own Green Day, Doritos, or Pepsi.) Personally, I think they turned out just fine. 

Thanks to anyone and everyone who reviewed. It was a long hard journey and I'm glad I could take you along for the ride. And remember to look out for the novelization of Chain of Memories and my original Zelda story, coming soon to a computer screennear you! (Man, I really need better jokes.)

So until then this is the Prince saying, Love and Peace!


End file.
